Bonnvillian's Pendant
by Newkirk's Heroes
Summary: *FINISHED!!! YAY!!!* My first Mummy fic. Wherein a powerful pendant is stolen by some power-hungry Germans and our favorite heroes, along with an unwilling French companion, must retrieve it and avert the destruction of Earth. Yet again!
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This takes place slightly before TMR would, but Evelyn and Rick are not married yet, so, evidently, there is no Alex. I don't know why, and this is my first Mummy fic, but for my plot-line to work, it had to take place when it did (1934), and…ah, I dunno. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this better, I am so open to them! Lol!   
  
  
  
~ July 21st, 1798, Somewhere in the Egyptian Desert ~  
  
"Soldiers!" The elegantly dressed General rallied, waving his saber in a gesture both grandiose and awe-inspiring then pointing it at the stone structures ahead, "from the height of these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you!"  
  
The French army roared in excitement, eager for battle, as the beautiful, fiery, Egyptian Mameluke troops rushed forward on their equally lovely Arabian mounts, a hair-raising war cry breaking the ancient stillness of the Sahara.   
  
With shouts of 'vive la France!' and 'vive la Napoleon!', the shinning French troops rushed forward, both contingents kicking up sand around their horses' feet, and the battle commenced in the shadows of the great pyramids, which had looked down for ages on the desert wars of men.  
  
***  
  
Fifty yards from the approaching enemy lines, General Alexandre Bonnvillian, of one of the Grande Armee's famed chasseurs a cheval dragoon units, stormed forward with his troops, overtaking the glorious Eastern warriors. The Frenchmen almost felt a stab of pity. The Mamelukes, to him, seemed as some rare and exotic predator---dangerous, of course, but beautiful to look at. But General Bonnvillian had been with Napoleon since the Italian Campaign of April 1796, and he relished each battle.   
  
Directing his men to the enemy's right flank, General Bonnvillian overtook what appeared to be a high-ranking Mameluke, swiping him off of his dark-black Arabian. But General Bonnvillian's horse suddenly reared, knocking him to the ground. Quickly jumping to his feet, Bonnvillian assessed the situation. He needed a horse…his had rocketed off. Almost without thinking, Bonnvillian grabbed the reigns of the black Arabian that had belonged to the Eastern Warrior and pulled himself on to the horse.  
  
"General! Are you all right!?" One of his aides cried, riding up next to him.  
  
"Oui. Just needed a change of horse." Bonnvillian winked, and waving his saber excitedly, Bonnvillian continued to lead the dragoons forward.  
  
It was not until after the triumph of the French forces that Alexandre noticed the jeweled reigns of the horse he was riding.  
  
~ August 23rd, 1799, Cairo, Egypt ~  
  
"Dieu, it is over! Over!"  
  
All was pandemonium in Cairo. That British devil Horatio Nelson had managed to destroy the French fleet, and after costly defeats in Syria and a horrible outbreak of the Bubonic Plague, the Grande Armee was lying in ruin.   
  
The night before, Napoleon had gathered his generals together, relaying to them the need for escape. A few had protested about leaving their men behind in the Egyptian desert, but their leader had reminded them that the future of France (and the European world) depended on their return to safety.  
  
Now, among the summer-sweltering cries of despair, General Alexandre Bonnvillian was pawing through his possessions, trying to decide how much he would be able to carry.  
  
His aide rushed in.  
  
"General Bonaparte says that we are leaving in fifteen minutes! You must hurry, General!" he panted, and Bonnvillian nodded, distractedly, trying to decide between a gorgeous Turkish saddle he had picked up in Syria or the beautiful, jeweled bridle he had taken from a Mameluke stallion.  
  
"Hurry!" the aide prompted anxiously.  
  
Realizing that the bridle would be easier to carry, General Bonnvillian grabbed it, and dashed out of the house he had been staying in, after the aide.  
  
The jeweled bridle caught the sun as Bonnvillian and his aide rushed to the harbor, where Napoleon and the rest of the chosen few awaited. Moments later, they boarded one of the few ships undamaged by that goddamned Horatio's fleet, and Bonnvillian was able to sigh in relief once more.   
  
Leaning on the railing, watching the Egyptian coast recede from view.  
  
***  
  
He did not see the two men, dressed in long, flowing black-robes, with tattooed faces, stare anxiously at him, almost regretfully.  
  
The two Med-Jai warriors had caught sight of the French General carrying the bridle, and had managed to follow him on to the ship. They were putting themselves in danger, they knew that much, but the Frenchman had no idea what he had. And hopefully, the two had remarked to each other, they could get the bridle away from him before he realized the power behind it.  
  
  
~ October, 1934, Berlin, Germany ~  
  
Greta von Lintzer underlined a quick passage in the book she had been reading, then checked her watch.  
  
"Ah, damn!" she cursed, realizing she would be late for the meeting, and he so despised tardiness. Sighing. Greta scooped the books into her arms and dashed out of the library, hailing a taxi and dropping half of her armload.  
  
"Wonderful!" Greta breathed, motioning for the taxi to stay put as she collected her books again.  
  
Finally getting herself organized, Greta dashed inside the taxi cab, hoping the driver would not mind going a bit fast. Greta was chronically late, and he hated that. Yet, Greta reflected, she was useful to him, and he could not dispose of her as easily as he could others.  
  
"Where to, Miss?" the cabby asked.  
  
"The Reichstag. And please, please hurry!" Greta replied breathlessly.   
  
Raising an eyebrow at the woman's request, the cabby started off, wondering what she needed to go to the Reichstag for. Maybe she knew the Fuehrer, the cabby mused. Wouldn't that be something to tell the wife!   
  
Greta dashed out of the cab as soon as it pulled up to the elaborate building, and practically flew up the stairs. The SS guards knew her well, and let her pass without obstruction, which was good for Greta, because she was late.   
  
Of course…she was always late.  
  
He was waiting in his office, and to Greta's great relief, he did not seem too perturbed. Some said he was crazy, but Greta did not believe that totally. To do what he had managed to do, you had to have had half a brain.  
  
"Ah, Fraulein von Lintzer." He greeted, rising to his feet. The sun struck the Iron Cross he always wore on his tunic, and Greta ducked her head in salutation.  
  
"I assume you have found it?" he asked.  
  
"Ja, mein Fuehrer. It took some time, but I have managed to locate the name of the officer who took it back to France." Greta replied respectfully. Personally, she thought this whole search was pointless, but the man was a mystic. A strong mystic, and he always had been. When he had heard of the bridle's power from an Egyptian contact, he had demanded to have it found, and Greta was one of the leading Egyptologists in the city. He had appealed to her, and Greta had been honored, and more-than-willing to set aside her own skepticism.   
  
"I am sure he kept it in the family. Even a Frenchman would know its value!" he mused, more to himself, but Greta nodded politely.  
  
"The surname is Bonnvillian…" Greta started, but trailed off as he motioned for silence.  
  
"I will send someone to France, to search for it. He must have kept it in the family. Bonnvillian, did you say?" he turned back to Greta, as if he had forgotten she was there.  
  
"Ja. A French cavalry general, made quite a name for himself." Greta nodded.  
  
"All right…perfect. Then the name should still be good. You will go, too, of course…only you know how to activate it, and when we have won, you shall be justly compensated." He promised.  
  
Greta smiled graciously. Personally, she believed this was futile, and though she had memorized the legend of the bridle, she had yet to find any proof that it would actually work. But, as long as it made him happy…besides, soon he would not need any ancient Egyptian legends to amass his power. The German army was stronger than any in Europe, Greta mused, and that would be power enough.  
  
"You shall leave tonight. You will go with two of my best men…they will find whoever has it, and then…ah, then Germany shall ascend to its rightful place! The Thousand-Year Reich shall be triumphant!"   
  
Greta smiled in agreement. Some said he was crazy, but anyone who believe in Germany as he did was anything but.  
  
~October 1934, Paris, France ~  
  
"I'll give you thirty francs for it, no more, no less." The broker sneered, and Suzette glared at him angrily, waving the gold chain and pendant in his face.  
  
"Thirty francs!? Thirty francs!? The facings along on this are worth twice thirty francs, you uncultured philistine! My Great-Great-Grandfather brought this back with him from Egypt during the Napoleonic Wars! This historical value alone is…" Suzette started, the broker pushed her hand away.  
  
"Then pawn it to a museum! Thirty francs is my final offer!" The broker cried, then with a twisted smirk added "And I'm being generous."  
  
Suzette's face reddened and she stuffed the necklace back into her skirt pocket.  
  
"Fine! See if I ever shop here again!" she threatened.  
  
"You weren't shopping here in the first place." The broker reminded her, still smirking snidely.  
  
Too angry to speak, Suzette threw up her hands and rushed out of the store. Outside, she brushed her hand through her hair and took the necklace back out of her pocket. The aquamarine pendant flashed in the sunlight, twisting a bit as if trying to break off the chain.  
  
"I hate you." She muttered to it.  
  
The pendant continued to twist happily.  
  
"Why can't you be worth more!?" Suzette demanded of it, then blushed, realizing she had spoken a bit too loud. Some people on the street turned to look at her, and Suzette flashed them a reassuring smile. Unfortunately, they didn't look too assured, and Suzette walked off, still red in the face.  
  
"Dieu…this has not been my year." She muttered to herself.  
  
Suzette Bonnvillian, the offending necklace in her pocket, walked home.  
  
~ October 1934, London, England ~  
  
"I had the strangest dream, you know." Jonathan Carnahan remarked as he walked into Rick O'Connell's flat, not bothering to knock. Rick, who had grown quite used to his almost-brother-in-law's oddities, looked up from his chair and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"And is that why you came over?" Rick smiled in false good-will.  
  
"Eh, no. But I figured it would be an interesting way to start a conversation…"  
  
"That would end with me telling you 'no, you cannot borrow any more money'." Rick cut Jonathan off, shaking his head and still smiling.  
  
"Oh come now, I was not going to ask you to borrow money!" Jonathan put his hands on his hips, acting wounded.  
  
Rick rolled his eyes.  
  
"Anyway," Jonathan sighed heavily, "Don't you want to hear about my dream?"  
  
"I thought you were just making that up." Rick remarked.  
  
"No! I don't lie!" Jonathan retorted, sitting down on Rick's sofa.  
  
"Right…just like you never ask you borrow money. All right, if you must, tell me about this dream." Rick shrugged, and sat back down. Jonathan looked about to start, but Rick suddenly interrupted him again.  
  
"How's Evelyn?"  
  
Jonathan sighed. "Bloody rude Yank! I was about to tell you!"  
  
"All right, you can tell me in a second. But how's Evelyn?" Rick waved Jonathan's protestations aside   
  
"Lord, she's been gone five days! She's fine." Jonathan couldn't help but smile. Rick had asked about Evelyn everyday, since she had left for Ireland to go hear some Egyptologist speak on some new finding. Of course, Jonathan and Rick had declined the invitation. The two of them had had enough of Egypt to last a lifetime. But, Jonathan realized, It was sort of sweet how Rick doted on his sister, and Jonathan was kind of glad that he would have the crazy American as a brother-in-law.  
  
"That's all I wanted to know." Rick smirked.  
  
"Good, now I can tell you…"  
  
"Does she miss me?" Rick cut Jonathan off again. Jonathan frowned at Rick, shaking his head in annoyance, and Rick laughed a bit.  
  
"Yes, he misses you! Now, is there anything else you need from me!?" Jonathan demanded.  
  
"Nope, I'm fine. Go right on ahead, Jonathan." Rick invited, waving his hands to add emphasis.  
  
"Good!" Jonathan crossed his arms, still looking quite disgruntled. But it was hard for him to stay that way…it just wasn't his nature, and Jonathan launched into retelling his odd dream.  
  
"It was the strangest thing, really…I was in the desert, and there was some sort of battle going on the distance. I think it might have been French troops fighting…something like that. Anyway, I was feeling a bit confused, when a woman came up to me…probably about 20-something, wearing a necklace. She asked me to keep it for her, and then two men in grey uniforms approached, and asked for it. Then I woke up." Jonathan recounted.  
  
"Uh-oh." Rick whispered.  
  
"What?" Jonathan asked, his eyes growing wide.  
  
"You had an odd dream about the desert. Come on…I think you can remember our last odd desert occurrence." Rick reminded him.  
  
"Do you think this has anything to do with that?" Jonathan demanded. Mummies were definitely not his favorite thing in the world, and if this dream was a premonition of meeting another one, he wanted to forget about it as soon as possible.  
  
Rick looked extremely serious, and Jonathan felt real fear. But Rick started laughing, shaking his head in amusement, and Jonathan crossed his arms angrily.  
  
"Very funny." Jonathan sneered.  
  
"Sorry…I couldn't help it. Honestly, I don't think your dream about deserts and girls has anything to do with mummies…it probably has more to do with that whole bottle of champagne you had before going to bed. Don't worry." Rick assured.  
  
"I did not have a whole bottle of champagne last night!" Jonathan protested.  
  
Rick raised a prompting eyebrow.  
  
"Well…maybe half a bottle…" Jonathan relented.  
  
Rick continued with his eyebrow-raising.  
  
"All right, I had a whole bottle! Lord…pushy Americans!" Jonathan expounded, and he waved his hand for agitated emphasis.  
  
Rick just laughed.  
  
~ A Train, Heading To Paris ~  
  
Greta von Lintzer was not very comfortable with her traveling companions. In fact, she was almost frightened of them.  
  
She figured they were with the SS, as the Fuehrer had told her they were 'his best men', but when she had met them, they had only offered their names…Gerhard Strassen and Josef Mueller…no rank or anything. They were young, probably mid-thirties, large men, and they carried guns.  
  
And…there was also something strange about them…they had spoken very little to Greta, and almost not at all among themselves. They simply stared out of the train-car window, watching the dusky evening fall to night.  
  
"Er, I think we have only an hour or so." Greta told them, simply to break the uncomfortable silence.  
  
Gerhard Strassen turned to her. He was the bigger of the two, solidly built with grey-blue eyes and reddish hair. Josef Mueller was still well-built, but shorter, with greenish eyes and blond hair.  
  
"Ja." Gerhard nodded stonily.  
  
They were heading to Paris. The Fuehrer had suggested they start with Paris, because it was the largest French city, and if the man who had taken the bridle had been of any importance, he would have settled his family there. Greta could not totally see the logic of it, but she trusted the Fuehrer's judgment.  
  
The silence had returned, just as choking as ever. The two men seemed almost made of stone…like statues, instead of living, breathing people. It scared Greta.  
  
"I have…er, located at least twelve people with the surname 'Bonnvillian' in Paris. Apparently it is quite rare, and if we do not find anyone in Paris…"  
  
"Well will find her in Paris." Josef interrupted.  
  
Greta nodded, then frowned. 'Her'? How could Josef know…? Greta wanted to ask, but she didn't.  
  
Suddenly, this whole expedition seemed a bit amiss.  
  
~Paris, France ~  
  
Suzette Bonnvillian sighed as she got ready for bed. The necklace sat on her night table, as it had been doing every night since she had stopped wearing it, and Suzette sneered at the thing.  
  
Her father had given it to her when she was eight, ten years ago, and had told her it had been in the Bonnvillian family since Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, where his Great Grandfather had taken it during a battle. The jewel, of course, not the chain, which had been Suzette's mother's. The jewel was the important part, Suzette knew, and the jewel was the thing she wanted to get rid of most of all.  
  
Suzette had always been stubborn. Even something like the damned jewel would not make her less stubborn, and she would hang on to it until she received a fair price.  
  
"Thirty francs…hah!" Suzette laughed to herself bitterly, and switched off her light.  
  
***  
Across the street from Suzette's tiny apartment building, a man sat on a bench, reading a paper. Or, at least, it seemed he was reading a paper. Though he dressed as any typical Parisian man would, he looked far from a typical Parisian.  
  
Perhaps it was his hair…wild and black, flowing down to his shoulders, or perhaps it was his face, and the tattooed markings on his cheeks. But mostly it was an air about him…an air of far-off places, with white-hot suns and endless sand.   
  
The man sat, and watched the apartment house.  
  
The girl was in there, he knew, and so was the jewel. And on a train, less than an hour away, the three people who would open the gates of hell, were approaching.   
  
And in London were three people who could stop it…  
  
Ardeth Bey sighed. He and the three in London had averted the apocalypse before…hopefully they would be able to do it again.  
  
***  
  
Later that night, Greta, Josef, and Gerhard walked out of the Paris Train Station, and Gerhard immediately hailed a taxi cab. Greta followed him and Josef, confused. She grew more perplexed as Gerhard gave the driver an address, and the taxi took off.  
  
"What are you doing?" Greta asked, trying not to sound timid.   
  
Gerhard turned to her stonily, his grey-blue eyes almost devoid of feeling.  
  
"We are retrieving the girl and what is left of the bridle." He replied, raising an eyebrow, looking at Greta like she was some sort of an idiot.  
  
"Wait a moment…how do you know a girl has it? How do you know where…" Greta started, but Josef put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be silent.  
  
"While you have been searching for the secret to unlocking its power, we have done some searching of our own. The Fuehrer is not a patient man, and we wish to have this finished as soon as possible." Josef explained softly.  
  
Greta nodded, but she still did not feel comforted.   
  
She actually felt a touch of fear.   
  
***  
  
Suzette had been sleeping for only an hour or so when someone began banging on her door. She sat up, frowning in confusion, and threw on a robe. The banging persisted, loud and almost vicious-sounding   
  
"At this hour…?" Suzette murmured, more in consternation than fear.   
  
Suzette reached the door and unlatched it, then pulled it open.  
  
Two men and a woman were standing there. The woman looked a few years older than Suzette herself, and the men looked angry…dangerous.  
  
"Y-yes?" Suzette stammered, her consternation quickly turning to fear. After all…to have two large men pound on your door in the middle of the night was not exactly a comforting event.  
  
"We want what is left of the bridle." One of the men demanded in a gruff, German accent. His French was particularly bad, as well.  
  
"What…bridle?" Suzette frowned, confused.  
  
"You know very well what I am talking about!" The second man growled, also with a German accent. The woman between them turned to each, looking a bit uncomfortable, then turned back to Suzette.  
  
"Sorry for this…we just want the bridle…then we will leave you be." The woman explained, almost apologetically.  
  
The woman's tone seemed to enrage the men, and the one pushed her back, then they both barged into Suzette's apartment, knocking Suzette to the floor.  
  
"What are you doing?" The woman demanded.  
  
"Stay put, we will find it!" One of the men replied, and the woman backed away from the door. Suzette tried to get to her feet, but one of the German men pushed her down again, much harder.  
  
Suzette cried out, but the men did not even seem to hear her. They began tearing apart her small room, searching desperately for something they were obviously having no luck finding.  
  
Finally, the bigger one motioned for his smaller companion to go into Suzette's bedroom, and then he turned to Suzette, his face a menacing sneer.  
  
"Look," Suzette started, barely able to speak, "I don't know what you want! I don't have any bridle!"  
  
"Then what's left of it! Where's that!?" He demanded.  
  
"I don't know what you mean!" Suzette cried desperately.  
  
The man, enraged, grabbed her up by the collar of her robe and threw her back against the wall. Suzette screamed in pain, and the man picked her up and threw her again.  
  
"What's going on?" The woman called from outside, nervously.  
  
"Stay put or I'll kill you too!" The man roared, and began advancing on Suzette again, when suddenly, Suzette's window shattered, and something large was standing in the middle of her room.  
  
The German man turned from Suzette, and his partner ran out of her room, clutching the necklace. Suzette, who was dazed but still coherent, frowned in confusion. What had just happened?  
  
"Who are you?" the German demanded.  
  
A man was standing in there, brushing the glass shards from his shoulder. Suzette gasped in fear…the man looked like some sort of ancient Eastern warrior, with long black hair, darkened skin, and odd tattoos decorating his face.  
  
"Do you have it yet? I will kill you if you do, understand." The man threatened.  
  
The German pulled out his pistol.  
  
"I would like to see you try." He smirked.  
  
The black-haired man turned to Suzette.  
  
"Did you give it to them?" He asked.  
  
"Give what to them? I don't know what they want!" Suzette cried, her head throbbing in pain.  
  
"I have it Gerhard. I found it. Just take care of him, and we can go." The other German sighed, sounding, of all things, annoyed.   
  
"Should we take the girl?" The other German…Gerhard, apparently…questioned, and his partner shook his head.   
  
The black-haired man stared hard at the German with the necklace, and advanced, drawing a knife from his pocket. Suzette struggled to get up and found she couldn't, so she flattened herself against the wall as much as possible. Gerhard aimed his pistol and fired, but the black haired man managed to jump out of the way just in time. The other German ran past him as Gerhard shot again, and the black haired man ran after him. But as he started after the German with Suzette's necklace, the woman dashed in the room, asking wildly what was going on, and the black-haired man collided with her.  
  
"COME ON!" Gerhard demanded, grabbing the woman before the black-haired man could get to his feet.   
  
Suzette finally pulled herself up as the black haired man jumped up and started chasing after the fleeing Germans, but the sound of a car told Suzette the three had gotten away with her necklace.  
  
After a moment, the black haired man returned to Suzette's destroyed flat.  
  
Suzette stared at him.  
  
"What…just…happened…here?" She demanded slowly.  
  
"I'll explain it to you later. Come on, we have to go." He prompted, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the house.  
  
"Wait! Where are we going!?" Suzette cried, struggling to keep up.  
  
"London!" The man replied.  
  
"London! What!? Mon Dieu, I'm not even dressed!" Suzette complained breathlessly as she followed the black-haired man.  
  
The man didn't seem to hear.  
  
~ London, England---The Next Day ~   
  
Jonathan was over Rick's again. With Evelyn off to Dublin on to hear that Egyptologist, he was horribly bored. Bored enough to want to spend time with his boorish, American soon-to-be-in-law.  
  
"So, anymore strange dreams?" Rick kidded as Jonathan sat down.  
  
"Very funny. And no, I didn't dream last night." Jonathan retorted dryly.  
  
"Oh, so you went to be sober." Rick raised an eyebrow, smirking.  
  
"You are just full of humor today, aren't you? I have half a mind to tell my sister not to marry a Yank like you!" Jonathan frowned.  
  
"Oh come on, you know I'm just kidding…besides, I doubt Evelyn would listen to you anyway. She loves me, remember." Rick winked, smiling at the thought of his soon-to-be-wife. The two had held off on marriage for a few years, until Evelyn got a comfortable job working for the British Museum, and until Rick had finally decided to commit. After all…Rick had been alone for a while, and he wanted to be completely sure he would be able to stay there for Evelyn. But neither of them had minded waiting, and as soon as Evelyn returned from Dublin, the wedding plans would be discussed.  
  
"Oh shut up." Jonathan shook his head.  
  
Rick was about to reply when a knock came at the door. Rick stood and ambled over. Jonathan turned, but his vision was blocked by Rick, as he opened the door.  
  
There was silence for a moment. Uneasy silence.  
  
"Rick? Who is it?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"Oh no! Not you again!" Rick cried unhappily.  
  
"Uh-oh…" Jonathan muttered to himself.  
  
"Hello O'Connell…we have another ancient evil to take care of." A very familiar voice introduced, and Jonathan slumped down in his chair, pretending to faint.  
  
***  
  
Suzette was more than confused. The black-haired man, who had introduced himself as Ardeth Bey, had told her very little else. She still had no idea why the Germans had stolen her necklace the night before, or why it mattered as much as it did. The two of them had flown to London the night before, then he had given her money for clothing, and now they were sitting in the parlor room of some other stranger's flat. And to make it worse, the two men seemed horribly unhappy at Ardeth's appearance. The one, the Englishman (the other was an American) seemed almost ready to faint.  
  
"Rick, Jonathan, this is Suzette Bonnvillian." Ardeth introduced, then turned to Suzette. "Rick O'Connell, Jonathan Carnahan." He motioned. The American was Rick, the Englishman, Jonathan. Suzette nodded, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"What is it this time, Ardeth?" Rick asked tiredly.  
  
"Two men..." he turned to Suzette for confirmation, and she nodded, "Have stolen something quite powerful from this girl, and I fear, if they unlock it, the world will be in danger." Ardeth explained.  
  
"Wow, that sounds familiar." Rick rolled his eyes.  
  
"I know you have had enough of world-threatening disasters, Rick, but this is important." Ardeth sighed patiently.  
  
"What is this thing?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"Well, it is a pendant, which was once part of a bridle." Ardeth started, but Suzette cut him off.  
  
"A bridle…the men were asking for a bridle when they came. I had no clue what they were talking about…I thought, perhaps, they had mistranslated, because their French was so bad…" Suzette mused.  
  
"What language did they speak?" Rick asked.  
  
"German." Suzette returned. "And there was a woman with them."  
  
"A woman?" Ardeth frowned.  
  
"Yes…she seemed upset by the two men, but she let them destroy my room anyway. They stole my necklace…which, as far as I'm concerned, they can have…then left." Suzette nodded.  
  
Ardeth turned to Suzette incredulously.  
  
"Do you know the power of that jewel? When unlocked, it can unleash a force greater than all the armies of the world, and whoever controls that force, controls humanity! The bridle that the jewel once was part of belonged to an ancient warrior…a great king, who tried to conquer the known world. And he would have succeeded, but the bridle was stolen from him before he could, and it was lost to history. That bridle allows whoever owns it to realize that dream…of controlling humanity." Ardeth explained, impressing upon them the significance and danger of what could happen.  
  
"All right, wonderful. So we have to steal this world-conquering thing back from some Germans, and everything's peachy again, right?" Jonathan surmised flippantly.  
  
"Right." Ardeth nodded.  
  
Rick sighed.  
  
"Well, since I know we'll be doing this anyway, why put up an argument? But what about Evelyn? She's still in Ireland." Rick reminded. He wasn't sure that he wanted Evelyn to come, but he knew she would want to come.   
  
"We cannot wait. This must be dealt with now. I assume you two will come?" Ardeth prompted.  
  
"Yes, we'll come." Rick agreed, getting to his feet.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute! I never said I would do anything!" Jonathan protested.  
  
"Come on Jonathan, you know you want to!" Rick smirked at him, pulling him up to his feet as well.  
  
"Rick! Oh come on!" Jonathan cried.  
  
Rick rolled his eyes and turned to Ardeth. Suzette watched him in confusion…the man seemed to have no problem believing Ardeth's crazy story about ancient evil. And, judging from their conversation, the three men had faced some sort of ancient evil before. It was almost ridiculous! Suzette still couldn't believe her stupid necklace held the key to unlocking a world-conquering force. It had just brought her bad luck! Suddenly, she realized she had been about to pawn it, and an involuntary smile crossed her face.  
  
"I knew it was worth more than thirty francs." She murmured.  
  
Ardeth, Jonathan, and Rick turned to her in confusion, and Suzette shrugged, smiling brightly. Rick nodded to himself, then turned back to Ardeth.  
  
"So, where are we going?"   
  
"Egypt, of course." Ardeth replied.  
  
"Egypt…bloody lovely." Jonathan sighed. 


	2. Chapter Two

~ The Next Morning…A Port In Italy ~  
  
"We should be traveling by aeroplane. It would be faster." Gerhard remarked in an irritated tone as Greta paid for their passage aboard the ship. It was scheduled to leave in a half an hour for Cairo, and Greta had been provided with the funds to secure her, Josef, and Gerhard's places aboard. She had just purchased three tickets on the Italian steamer ship "Bella".  
  
"I despise flying." Greta shot back, then instantly regretted her tone. Gerhard gave her an angered look, and Greta couldn't help remember how he had threatened to 'kill her too' if she had gotten in his way.  
  
"We have to stay ahead of that man." Josef frowned.  
  
"Who was he?" Greta asked for what, she felt, was the hundredth time. Gerhard and Josef had been less-than-forthcoming on the identity of the strange assailant who had almost caught them the remnant of the bridle the previous night.  
  
"I told you, I have no idea." Gerhard growled.  
  
"But…how could he know about the bridle? And how could he have known that we were looking for it?" Greta persisted.  
  
"What, do I look like some sort of oracle? I don't know!" Gerhard practically roared, and Greta sank back.  
  
"We should have done this alone." Josef whispered to Gerhard, but Greta still heard.  
  
"Well, I am the only one who knows how to activate the damned thing." Greta murmured angrily.  
  
"You don't even believe in it, Fraulein von Lintzer." Josef spat. Greta averted her glance for a second, not wanting them to know that she had her doubts, but, anger getting the better of her, she looked up again, catching Josef in the eye.  
  
"Do you?" Greta challenged.  
  
"I believe in many things." Josef returned in a cold, hard voice.  
  
The ship's whistle blew.  
  
"We should board now." Gerhard suggested. Greta nodded, and she collected her bag, containing the books she needed. Josef had the necklace in his pocket, and he took it out for a moment, regarding it.  
  
"Hurry." Gerhard demanded. "He may be following us…he has been given ample time to do so, since we have not been permitted to fly." He spat, regarding Greta. Scowling, and more angry than afraid, Greta walked on ahead, her steps hurried and staccato-sounding.  
  
Josef waited until Greta was too far ahead to hear.  
  
"Med-Jai, do you believe?" He whispered.  
  
"Ja. How else would he know?" Gerhard nodded, glancing at the aquamarine pendant, hanging ever-so-innocently from the gold chain.  
  
"We may have some difficulty." Josef recognized.  
  
Suddenly, a man ran into Josef, knocking him off balance and causing him to almost drop the pendant.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" Josef snarled angrily, tucking the necklace back in his pocket.  
  
"Well excuse me, I didn't know it was a crime to walk…damn Krauts!" The man muttered in an unmistakably English accent as he stormed away.  
  
Josef watched the man walk off, annoyed. Gerhard rolled his eyes, and motioned for him to follow.  
  
If they had stayed for a moment longer, they would have met up with an American and a Med-Jai warrior.  
  
~ Later That Same Day…On The "Bella", Somewhere In The Mediterranean ~  
  
Suzette stood by the railing as the "Bella" steamed through the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean, and she realized how the Sea looked exactly like her damned pendant.  
  
The others had been astounded when she had remarked on her intention of pawning it, but they didn't understand. Powerful or not, the thing had been nothing but bad luck for the Bonnvillian family.  
  
"No wonder…of course my ancestor would have to steal a cursed bridle from some Eastern warrior. It would make perfect sense." Suzette sneered to herself.   
  
"You talk to yourself often?" A voice asked, shocking Suzette so, that she almost fell into the water.  
  
"Mon Dieu! Do you frighten people out of their wits often!?" Suzette whirled around, coming face-to-face with the Englishman…Jonathan Something-Or-Other.  
  
"Well…yes." Jonathan smiled guiltily. Suzette raised an eyebrow, but didn't persist. She had not said much to her traveling companions…but what was there to say? They had to steal her pendant back from some Germans so they wouldn't destroy the world or something. A situation such as that did not exactly call for casual conversation. Even though, the three seemed pretty at ease, and Suzette figured they had done something odd like this before. Suzette wasn't certain if that was an assuring fact or not.  
  
Suzette and Jonathan regarded each other.  
  
"Ardeth told me to check up on you. He's very protective sometimes." Jonathan explained after an uncomfortable moment.  
  
"Oui. Yes…and, will he be paying for my window, when we get back from saving the world?" Suzette inquired, tilting her head a bit and giving the Briton a fake smile.  
  
"Eh…couldn't say." Jonathan shrugged.  
  
"Tres bien." Suzette sighed. "I live in a dump, and then an Egyptian warrior jumps through my window so he and some German lunatics can make it more of a dump. Charmant!"  
  
"Ah…well, I see that you're doing quite all right, so perhaps I'll venture to the other side of the ship…" Jonathan put his hands up and began backing away. Suzette, realizing how abrasive she must have sounded, sighed and smiled a bit.  
  
"Peine…Sorry. This is just kind of strange…I…well, I don't exactly know how to act right now." Suzette apologized.  
  
Jonathan smiled and walked back next to her.  
  
"Perfectly understandable. Believe me, I know how this is. A few years back we had to stop a mummy from destroying the world. Not a fun thing to do, really, and it does tend to put one in a bad mood." Jonathan nodded.  
  
"You…had to stop a mummy…?" Suzette raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yep. We're pros at this whole…averting the apocalypse thing." Jonathan winked.  
  
Suzette was about to reply when a woman walked up and tapped Jonathan on the shoulder. He turned around, and the woman smiled a bit helplessly.  
  
"Sorry…I was wondering if you knew where the captain's quarters are?" The woman requested in a heavy accent.  
  
A heavy, German accent.  
  
Suzette's eyes widened, and she turned around, facing the water, keeping her back to the woman.  
  
"Eh, not sure miss, sorry." Jonathan shrugged.  
  
"Oh, it's all right. Thank you for…" the woman paused, and Suzette felt her heart stop. "Thank you for, eh, helping. Guten Tag." The woman went on in a slower tone, and Suzette felt like jumping into the Mediterranean.  
  
After she had left, Suzette turned to Jonathan.  
  
"What?" he demanded, catching her expression of fear.  
  
"Remember how I said there were two German men and an equally German woman at my house that night?" Suzette hissed.  
  
"Oh my God…" Jonathan breathed, catching her meaning.  
  
"Oui. We are in trouble." Suzette nodded.  
  
The two ran off to find Ardeth and Rick.  
  
***  
  
Greta practically flew back to Gerhard and Josef, who were talking softly and hurriedly to each other on the opposite side of the 'Bella'.  
  
"Men…" she started, breathless almost from her long run.  
  
They turned to her, apparently angry at being disturbed.  
  
"The girl…the Bonnvillian girl…is on board." Greta reported, motioning to the direction from which she had just come.  
  
"That must mean that the Med-Jai is with her!" Josef exclaimed, then clapped a hand over his mouth in shock of what he had just let slip. Gerhard turned to him furiously, then back to Greta, who was staring at them, somewhere between confusion and intense, odd, familiarity.  
  
"Med-Jai…" She whispered. The word hit her like a bucketful of cold water, shocking and waking at the same time. Greta blinked to try and clear her mind but she couldn't. Something was happening, something…  
  
"We have to find them." Gerhard initiated.  
  
"Med-Jai." Greta repeated, not hearing Gerhard. The world seemed to have disappeared around her, and she blinked again, seeing a flash of white-hot light behind her eyelids.  
  
Gerhard and Josef both turned to her, frowning.  
  
"You do not know what he meant." Gerhard growled, almost as if he were commanding her not to know. Not that Greta did know, but some part of her did…some new part that made no sense…that she hadn't even known about until Josef had let that odd word slip.  
  
"We are going to look for her and the…the man. If you see them, find us." Josef instructed, and turned to go, but Greta called them back.  
  
"What?" Gerhard demanded.  
  
"Another man was with her…and Englishman. He had dark hair, I think." Greta informed, and Gerhard and Josef stared at each other, remembering the man who had ran into them before getting on the boat.  
  
"All right. We will be back after we have found them." Josef nodded, and Greta watched he and Gerhard slink off…like a pair of over-sized snakes.  
  
Greta turned to the water. The "Bella" steamed closer and closer to Egypt, and Greta closed her eyes, the word 'Med-Jai' echoing like a forgotten voice in her head, a voice that she had once known. 


	3. Chapter Three

Rick and Ardeth, meanwhile, were up on the deck, a little ways away from where Greta was staring out at the sea.   
  
"So…if the Germans can unlock this pendant thing, then all hell breaks loose?" Rick asked, tilting his head for clarification. Ardeth raised an eyebrow at the overly-casual American, but couldn't help smiling.   
  
"Yes, that is the basic idea." Ardeth nodded.  
  
"But…what, exactly, will happen? I mean…you didn't really explain it very well…" Rick motioned, trailing off a bit.  
  
"Honestly…I did not explain it well because I do not know, exactly." Ardeth admitted after a reflective moment. Rick turned fully to him, an eyebrow raised.  
  
"You don't know?" He asked incredulously.  
  
Ardeth shrugged, a bit self-consciously, then allowed a small smile. "Among my people, the Bridle had always been considered a legend. We never had any clue it actually existed. We had been told stories of a King…but no name was ever given. We assumed it was a legend, because the details were so hazy. All that I know for sure, is that this King supposedly wanted to conquer Earth for some reason other than simply…" Ardeth trailed off, struggling for the words.  
  
"Conquering the Earth." Rick supplied.  
  
"Yes. Exactly. There was supposed to be some ulterior motive, which was what made him so feared. And the bridle was supposedly worn by his stallion, and whenever he rode with it, all the armies of the Earth would follow him, allowing him complete and total control. But nothing more was ever divulged to us." Ardeth continued.  
  
"Then how did the damn Germans know about it?" Rick mused.  
  
"Oh, I am sure the legend is well-documented. And I have heard that their new leader is quite a mystic, besides being almost insane for power. That is just the sort of combination we should fear." Ardeth shrugged, and Rick nodded in thoughtful agreement.  
  
"Well, hopefully we can…" Rick started, but Ardeth cut him off quickly by smacking his arm. Rick turned to Ardeth, confused, and the Med-Jai discretely motioned behind them. Rick turned his head a bit and saw two large men   
  
"The Germans." Ardeth whispered.  
  
Rick's eyes widened. He hadn't guessed the men to be as big as they were…and so fierce looking.   
  
"What do we do?" Rick hissed.  
  
"Perhaps they will not see us." Ardeth returned.  
  
That seemed to be the case when all of a sudden, from the other side of the ship, Jonathan and Suzette came running up loudly, and painfully apparent. The two Germans heard the commotion and turned. Ardeth winced as he watched them approach suspiciously.  
  
Rick and Ardeth motioned fiercely for the two of them to remain silent, but Suzette and Jonathan didn't see. Jonathan reached Rick first, his eyes wide.  
  
"Jonathan…" Rick started, his lips pressed together in fear, and Ardeth reached into his pocket. Rick saw and hoped Ardeth was armed in some way, because he, unfortunately, was not.  
  
"Rick! That German woman that was with the men who stole the pendant from Suzette is on the boat so that means…" Jonathan stopped abruptly as he felt a large hand clamp down hard on his shoulder.  
  
"Dieu…" Suzette whispered, her eyes wide.  
  
The man whose name Suzette recalled being Gerhard grabbed Ardeth Bey and whirled him around, pressing him back against the railing. Ardeth's hand was still in his pocket. Gerhard didn't seem to notice that, and Suzette prayed the man had some sort of back-up.  
  
"Pleasure to see you, sir…and, ah, I see you have brought some friends." Gerhard smirked. Gerhard's partner had Jonathan still by the shoulder, and had pulled a pistol from his pocket. He aimed the gun at Rick, who had looked about to dash off.  
  
"Do not move." Gerhard's partner demanded.  
Gerhard smiled, then turned to Suzette. "And you, fraulein, what a pleasure! We never got the chance to thank you for supplying us with your pendant."  
  
"Damned lousy Kraut." Suzette muttered angrily.  
  
In a sudden flurry of movement, Ardeth pulled a small pistol out of his pocket and aimed it at Gerhard, who jumped back as his partner instantly pointed his own handgun at Ardeth. Using his distraction, Rick jumped on top of Gerhard, who was unarmed apparently, and sent the German plowing down into his partner. The man fell to the deck, almost pushing Ardeth over the side of the boat, but Jonathan grabbed the Med-Jai before he could fall. The pistol was knocked from the German's hand and it shot off the side of the boat into the Mediterranean below.  
  
"Damn!" he cried.  
  
"Suzette! Get the pendant!" Rick demanded as Gerhard jumped to his feet, throwing Rick off and to the ground. Suzette, who had been watching the scene unfold, open-mouthed, snapped back into motion and dove towards the still-unnamed German as Ardeth jumped on top of him to prevent him from getting up. Gerhard, who had dislodge Rick, cried out and pushed Ardeth off, but Suzette stuck her hand in the German's pocket before he had a chance to get up. With an almost bestial cry, the German grabbed her hand before Suzette could take hold of her pendant. Jonathan, who had gone over to help Rick, heard her cry out in pain, and he and Ardeth tackled the German to the ground again. Ardeth cocked his pistol, pointing it at the German's head.  
  
"Let go of her, or I will shoot you." He threatened in a calm tone.  
  
The man instantly released Suzette's hand.  
  
Suddenly, Gerhard cried out something in German, and Ardeth felt something hit him in the back of the head, hard. Suzette screamed, and one of the "Bella's" deck chairs clattered down in a cacophony of noise. Ardeth fell forward, dazed, and dropped his pistol. The other German grabbed it before Suzette, Jonathan, or Rick could react, and Gerhard helped his partner to his feet.  
  
He aimed the gun at Suzette.  
  
"Anyone moves and I shoot her." He threatened.  
  
Rick and Jonathan instantly heeded, and Ardeth, who was only half-conscious, could not move much anyway.  
  
Someone ran up, and Suzette realized it was the damned German woman. She had apparently hurled the deck chair at Ardeth.  
  
"Was ist los?" She breathed. 'What is wrong?' Suzette translated mentally. She knew some German…her father had taught her. He had learned it in the Great War, as a German POW. Coincidentally, Suzette's father had been wearing the damned pendant when he had been captured. But, that was neither here nor there as far as the present situation went, Suzette reminded herself wryly, staring down the barrel of the German's handgun.  
  
"The Med-Jai and his friends." Gerhard's partner explained, motioning to them. Suddenly, his face reddened, and Gerhard rolled his eyes.  
  
"Josef, stop it! She cannot know!" Gerhard reprimanded.  
  
"What are you doing with them? You cannot shoot them now!" the woman exclaimed, looking around nervously. The deck was oddly empty, but then again, not many people were on the boat to begin with.  
  
"She almost got the pendant." Josef explained, motioning to Suzette.  
  
"And we will get it! God, if we can stop the apocalypse once, we can definitely do it again!" Rick challenged, but Josef buried the gun in his forehead, scowling dangerously.  
  
"All right then, perhaps I can be dramatic later…" Rick smiled brightly.  
  
"Perhaps I can shoot you now so you will not get the opportunity!" Josef cried.  
  
"Er…well, no, that wouldn't be good." Rick shook his head.  
  
Gerhard sighed in a disgusted way.  
  
"Help me get them back to the room…we can tie them up there and kill them when we get to Egypt." Gerhard decided after a moment. The woman gave him a look, somewhere between fear and confusion, but she nodded. Jonathan turned to the woman and gave her a raised-eyebrow look. The woman simply shrugged, but she still looked unsure.  
  
"Take him…he's barely conscious anyway." Josef told the woman, motioning to Ardeth.  
  
She nodded, and Jonathan, Rick, and Suzette could not help but notice her expression as she got Ardeth to his feet…a strange mix of confusion, wonder, and a deep sort of…familiarity.  
  
~ Later That Night ~  
  
Greta could not stay in the room with the four tied up. With the money the Fuehrer had provided, she, Josef, and Gerhard had been privy to not only premier tickets, but also, premier rooms. Unfortunately, that meant there were plenty of places to hide the American, the Englishman, the French girl, and the other man…  
  
The Med-Jai.  
  
She still was not sure what that name meant, though Greta took it to mean that the man was some sort of warrior. He looked it…with his long black hair and tattooed face. But just what kind of warrior, Greta had no clue.  
  
"Something about him," she muttered to the dark, depthless Mediterranean beneath her. "Something I knew. The word even."   
  
It was too confusing.  
  
Suddenly, Greta felt a large hand on her shoulder, and she jumped.   
  
It was only Josef.  
  
"What do you want?" Greta demanded tiredly.   
  
"Just to see something. Gerhard and I had been wondering…" Josef trailed off and took the aquamarine pendant out of his pocket. Even though the night was dark, it still seemed to glimmer…almost internally. Greta regarded it, as she had been regarding it, with a skeptical air, but now…something new. Something besides the skepticism.   
  
"Take it." Josef demanded, practically thrusting the necklace into Greta's hand.   
  
Frowning at Josef, Greta closed her hand around the pendant. She turned to Josef, who was watching her anxiously. Greta raised an eyebrow, unsure of what, exactly, Josef was waiting to see.  
  
Suddenly, the pendant grew warm in her hand…oddly warm, and Greta stared down at it.  
  
It was glowing. A deep turquoise color, both warm and offending at the same time, and Greta closed her eyes. She could hear hoof-beats somewhere, but that made absolutely no sense. None at all.  
  
Greta was too busy concentrating on the pendant.  
  
She did not see Josef smile in a cruel way, and look out over the Sea, to the desert land that was waiting beyond. When they arrived in Egypt, then it would begin.  
  
And it would not be Germany in the end…no, it would be something else.  
  
"Something infinitely better." Josef whispered, smirking as he glanced at Greta, who was still staring in wonder at the glowing stone. 


	4. Chapter Four

"Don't bother…there's absolutely no way to untie these. Believe me…I've been trying." Suzette sighed dismally as Rick continued to rub against the ropes binding him. The two of them, Jonathan, and Ardeth were in the German, Gerhard's, room, and, to add insult to injury, they were tightly bound.   
  
"Leave it to the Germans to carry yards of bleedin' rope around with them. Most people pack clothes and other such personal items…but no. They have ropes. And guns, of course, can't forget the flippin' guns" Jonathan sighed, mainly to himself. Suzette and Rick rolled their eyes dramatically.  
  
"Wonderful monologue, there. Quite dramatic." Rick raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Thanks…glad you liked it." Jonathan shot back.  
  
After sighing at the Englishman, Rick turned his head (which was the only part of his body he could turn…the damned Germans had certainly done a number on him) to Ardeth.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked with concern. The woman had hit him pretty hard with the chair.  
  
"Yes. I should be. Aside from the embarrassment, of course. I do not think it is generally accepted for Med-Jai to be knock unconscious by deck chairs. Especially when they are thrown by women" Ardeth returned wryly, with a hint of a smile. Suzette made an 'excuse me' noise, and Ardeth muttered a chagrinned apology. Suzette smirked.  
  
"Ah…well, I suppose that's good to hear." Rick smiled back at Ardeth, delicately ignoring the French girl.  
  
"So…messieurs, do you have a plan for getting us out of here? After all…you do seem to be techniciennes at removing yourselves from these situations, corrigent?" Suzette questioned with deliberate flippancy, after a silent moment.   
  
"Give us time!" Rick pleaded.  
  
"Well…we arrive in Egypt tomorrow afternoon…so you have a couple of hours before we are…how shall I say this…killed!" Suzette exclaimed.  
  
Rick was about to respond when the door opened and Gerhard walked in, taking his hand gun from his pocket, and sweeping it around the room at each of the "prisoners". After assuring himself that they presented no danger, the German smirked with superiority.  
  
"So…are you comfortable? Is there anything you need? Reading material, perhaps." He kidded, laughing at his own bad joke.  
  
"Well…I would like to be let go…" Suzette started, and Gerhard quickly flashed his gun to her.  
  
"Not likely, fraulein. Tomorrow afternoon, we shall arrive in Cairo. And once we have gotten you off the boat, we shall kill you. Then, we will be unobstructed in our quest." Gerhard explained with marked casualness. Suzette sneered at him, and Rick thought of all the things he would like to do to the damned German.   
  
"I must caution you…you are dealing with a power far beyond any mortal control. If it is loosed upon the world, we shall all be in danger." Ardeth warned in a hard voice. The German laughed, turning to face him.  
  
"Ah, the Med-Jai. I must admit, I was amazed at how easily fraulein von Lintzer was able to take you out of action. I was under the impression that you were supposed to be a fearless warrior." Gerhard joked, again laughing at himself.  
  
"Fear has nothing to do with being attack from behind. That is merely cowardice on your part." Ardeth spat back, his voice loaded with venom. Gerhard simply laughed again, this time the cruel humor and spite almost oozing from his pores.  
  
"Wait a moment here…forgive me for being a bit nosey…but how do you know he's a Med-Jai?" Jonathan piped up.  
  
Gerhard turned to him, all the humor…as ill-tempered as it had been…dissipating from his expression. He now wore a look of calculated coldness, a dangerous cunning and ambition draping over his features.  
  
"There are quite a few things I know." Gerhard finally smirked, and crossed to the room the bed, where he sat, still pointing his hand gun at the four  
  
~ London, England—Later That Night ~  
  
Evelyn Carnahan…soon to be Evelyn O'Connell…rapped softly on her husband-to-be's apartment door. No one answered, but that was usual. Plus, it was a bit late at night…perhaps Rick was sleeping. And Jonathan had not been at home, so he was probably over as well…after all, her brother had no money, so he wouldn't be out gambling or carousing. Of course, Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan had come in to quite a bit of money after their mummy adventure, but Evelyn was sure to keep most of it from her brother. She loved him dearly, but the man could not be trusted with money!  
  
"I'm coming in!" Evelyn called, and pushed the door open.  
  
The empty flat greeted her as she looked around.  
  
"Rick?" Evelyn asked, looking around. No one replied.  
  
"Jonathan?" She asked again, a bit nervous. Where could they be? Calming herself a bit, guessing they probably went out for some drinks or something, Evelyn walked all the way into Rick's apartment.  
  
It was then she noticed the note on the table.  
  
Evelyn picked it up and read it, her mouth falling open and her eyebrows flying up. But she quickly regain her composure and allowed a small smile.  
  
"How dare they leave without me! Well…we'll just see who gets left behind…" Evelyn smirked, and walked out of the apartment, wondering who she could possibly get to fly her to Egypt.  
  
~ The Next Morning—Aboard the 'Bella' ~  
  
Greta awoke, realizing with a cold shudder that they would be in Egypt in only a few hours. But…the shudder was only partially cold and uneasy. There was also a strange excitement in the warm Mediterranean morning, something Greta couldn't quite put her finger on.  
  
She quickly dressed and walked out onto the 'Bella's' deck.  
  
Josef was waiting for her, almost scaring Greta out of her wits as she rounded the corner. Josef smiled in what, for him, must have been in a friendly manner, but to Greta, still seemed threatening.  
  
"Sleep well, Greta?" He asked.  
  
"Ja…ja, danke." Greta nodded, shaking her head a bit.  
  
"Good. Today is the day, eh?" Josef smirked, his eyes glowing a bit in intimidating anticipation.  
  
Greta simply nodded.  
  
Josef nodded back, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the pendant. He held his hand out, motioning that Greta should take it. Greta looked down at the aquamarine jewel, a bit unsure. She recalled the night before…the odd feeling that had come over her when she had held the pendant. The power that she was beginning to believe it possessed both harkened and terrified her.  
  
"Take it." Josef thrust his hand to Greta, his voice hard, his eyes glittering coldly.  
  
"Ja! Please, do not yell at me!" Greta cried, and grabbed the necklace from Josef. It did not glow this time, but it still felt warm, almost alive in her hands.  
  
"Put it on." Josef commanded.  
  
Greta nodded, her uncertainty dissipating as the Italian boat steamed on and the morning sun caught the pinpoints of the pendant, spraying colored light over Greta's hands and Josef's face.  
  
She slipped the necklace over her head and pulled her hair out of the way. The pendant fell against her neck, and Greta smiled up at Josef. There were no hoofbeats now, no confusion or scattered images, only something Greta could not yet name, but knew just the same.  
  
Power.  
  
There was sheer power in the pendant. Power that could be Germany's, that could belong to Germany and…  
  
No. Greta shook her head at that. Not Germany.  
  
Power that could be hers. Greta touched the pendant. Power that could be hers and hers alone.  
  
"Vollendet." Josef whispered, smiling back. "Perfect.  
  
***  
  
Jonathan was not sure how in the hell he had been able to sleep, but apparently he had, because after what had been a most uncomfortable (to say the very least!) night, he awoke, his face pressed against something.  
  
"What the…?" He asked, muffled.  
  
"Ah!" Someone cried in shock, and Jonathan fell back. He had been leaning against Ardeth, whom he also just scared the wits out of.  
  
"Ooo…sorry about that." Jonathan smirked.  
  
"Perfectly all right. Are we alone?" Ardeth asked, looking about.  
  
"I think…Gerhard left." Rick, who had not slept at all, replied.  
  
"Well…wonderful. Unfortunately, we'll be in good old Cairo soon…and we still have no idea how to get out of this one." Jonathan surmised.  
  
"Come on! We've gotten out of worse!" Rick tried to sound cheery, and actually succeeded…but that was just Rick. He could make the best of even the most fatal-looking situation.  
  
"We have. And we must get out of this one. I have the worst feeling that those Germans have something horrible in mind with that pendant." Ardeth prophesied.  
  
"Of course they do! When has someone ever used a source of immeasurable power for good? It's always something horrible!" Jonathan expounded. Suddenly, he realized the remaining member of their party had yet to speak up. "Where's Suzette?" he asked, concerned.  
  
"Huh? Oh God, I completely…" Rick trailed off, looking around (as best he could, in his bound state). The French girl was nowhere to be found. "Damn! Where the hell could she be?" Rick cursed.  
  
"That man must have taken her." Ardeth guessed.  
  
"Lovely. Now what?" Jonathan demanded.  
  
Rick sighed. Things were definitely not looking up for them.  
  
***  
  
"What do you want of me?" Suzette asked fearfully. The German, Gerhard, had apparently moved her when she was sleeping. Now, as Suzette looked around, she realized she was in some sort of storage room. There were no windows, and there was barely enough room for her and Gerhard.  
  
"I simply want to keep you away from the others. See, Josef and myself are not sure of your worth yet, and when we kill them, we do not want you to get in the way." Gerhard explained flippantly.  
  
"You're…you're not going to kill me?" Suzette stammered.  
  
"Now I did not say that. I simply meant we will not kill you right away." Gerhard smirked.   
  
Suzette rolled her eyes…such a consolation! And she had to help the others. Even if the Krauts were holding off on her death, she doubted they would extend that prolongation to Jonathan, Ardeth, and Rick.   
  
"Why am I useful?" Suzette demanded sassily. She wasn't good at many things…except for irritating people and talking back. And when you didn't have anything to fall back except what you know you are good at, then that is what you do.  
  
Gerhard pulled out his gun and pressed it to her temple.  
  
"I am not quite sure that you are!" he sneered through clenched teeth.  
  
"What about the others?" Suzette demanded.  
  
"They shall die in some alley way in Cairo." Gerhard promised, burying the nozzle of the gun harder against her head. Suzette winced against the cold metal and tried not to show any apprehension.  
  
"Why?" Suzette pleaded, changing her tone abruptly.  
  
"Because we cannot have anyone getting in our way." Gerhard hissed, staring hard at Suzette with his cold eyes.  
  
"Too much is on the line." 


	5. Chapter Five

~ Later That Afternoon—On The 'Bella', Docked In A Port In Cairo ~  
  
The 'Bella' docked a few hours that afternoon, and Gerhard took Suzette out of the closet he had been keeping her in and met up with Josef and Greta on the ship's deck. Gerhard raised his eyebrow when he realized Greta was wearing the pendant. She noted his expression and smiled a bit…a hard, powerful smile.  
  
Suzette noticed as well.  
  
"You might not want to wear that thing…" Suzette warned, cocking an eyebrow. She had had the pendant since she had been born, and all it had done was bring her horrible luck. Suzette knew something was wrong with it…that despite however much power it had, there was something horribly off about the pendant.   
  
"Shut up. Why is she still alive?" Greta spat, turning to Gerhard and motioning to Suzette, who shrugged.  
  
"We may need her later." Gerhard explained shortly. He then turned to Josef. "Help me with the others. They may try to escape."  
  
"May!? What kind of couenne idiot are you? Of course they're going to try to escape. Mon Dieu, how you ever beat us in the Franco-Prussian War…" Suzette exclaimed in exaggerated loudness, trying to attract someone's attention. She wasn't stupid enough to call out for help, but maybe if she could get someone suspicious enough, the Germans could be stopped.  
  
"Wollen Sie gefaelligst den Mund halten!" Gerhard screamed at her, smacking her in the back of the head.   
  
"I will not kindly do anything!! Especially not 'shut up!'" Suzette returned hotly, struggling a bit. She immediately stopped, though, when she felt the hard, metallic pressing of a hand gun against her neck.   
  
A few people walking by looked over at him, and Josef cleared his throat, shooting Gerhard an angry look.  
  
"Is anything wrong?" Someone asked, looking at Suzette in concern, who was desperately trying to motion with her eyes that Gerhard was concealing a gun. Of course, the person had to be oblivious and simply smirked at Suzette.  
  
"Alles is ganz recht" Greta assured, smiling gently, and the stranger walked off. Suzette sighed…everything was not all right, as the German woman had related. Everything was far from all right. And Suzette knew that by Greta wearing that necklace, things had gotten much worse. Suzette couldn't say why, but she knew things had definitely taken a turn for the worse.  
  
As if it were possible for things to be worse, Suzette reflected grimly.  
  
Gerhard turned to Greta, and motioned for her to take the gun. Greta did so.  
  
"Watch the girl…Josef and I will take the other three off the boat, then do away with them. Meet us at the port in a half hour…we need to take a boat to get their." Gerhard commanded.  
  
"Ja. Come on, come with me. And do not make a sound, or I will shoot you." Greta demanded of Suzette, who nodded, sighing.  
  
"Dieu." Suzette breathed, and tried to motion to other with her eyes as Greta led her down the gang plank. Suzette managed, though, if not to attract help, to catch a glimpse of her pendant, around Greta's neck, and she gasped in surprise. Things were definitely getting stranger.  
  
The aquamarine pendant was glowing.  
  
Brightly.  
  
And dangerously. Yes…despite the soft color and the innocence of the simple stone, there was something infinitely powerful and deadly about the light that was emanating from it.  
  
***  
  
Ardeth, Jonathan, and Rick looked up in alarm as the door to the cabin burst open. Josef and Gerhard stood there, both cocking pistols.   
  
"Time to go, gentlemen." Gerhard smirked.  
  
Suddenly, Rick had an idea. Not a particularly good one, but an idea just the same. He turned to Ardeth and Jonathan, and mouthed 'follow my lead'. The two nodded, a bit unsure, but they did trust Rick.  
  
Rick only hoped it would work.  
  
"Fine. Just please…don't torture us or anything. If you're going to kill us, do it quickly?" Rick pleaded. Jonathan raised his eyebrows at Rick in shock, but Rick just winked. Jonathan licked his lips, hoping the crazy American could pull them out of this. Ardeth simply waited.  
  
Gerhard and Josef glanced at each other and laughed.  
  
"We shall see, Yank. Come on. Up! If you do not do as we say, then we will make it slow." Josef demanded, and Rick allowed himself to be picked up.  
  
"Wait…we have to remove the ropes. Damn, we can't let them out like that." Gerhard sighed with realization.  
  
"You're right." Josef nodded, then grabbed Jonathan, who was nearest to him. "If we see you two even think about escaping, I will shoot him." Josef threatened, pointing the gun directly between Jonathan's eyes.  
  
"Ah, gents, better do what the man says." Jonathan pleaded, his voice shaking a bit as he swallowed hard in fear, going a bit cross-eyed as he stared with fear at the gun.  
  
"Exactly. Now…the Med-Jai first." Josef motioned to Ardeth, and Gerhard walked over, undoing the ropes that bound him. Ardeth was almost trembling with the urge to kill the German, but the gun pressed against Jonathan's head dissuaded him from doing anything irrational. Ardeth simply stared with cold fury at Gerhard, who smirked cruelly as he pushed Ardeth to the ground.  
  
"Fearless warrior. Hah!" he spat, and kicked Ardeth hard.  
  
"Hey! Don't do that!" Rick cried, struggling to get to his feet as Gerhard Ardeth again, and the Med-Jai let out a small groan of pain.  
  
"Do not move!" Josef demanded, pressing the gun harder against Jonathan's head. "I will shoot him!"   
  
"Rick!" Jonathan exclaimed, his voice small and tight in fear.  
  
"Rick…" Ardeth pleaded. Gerhard laughed again, harder, angrier, and he kicked him again. There was almost a tangible fury around the German, and even Josef looked a bit confused.  
  
"STOP IT!!!" Rick screamed, and Josef swung the gun around, pointing it at Rick.  
  
"I told you to…" But Josef was cut off when Jonathan, acting on sheer impulse and adrenalin, threw himself forward, knocking Josef to his feet. Jonathan was still tied up, but he managed to keep Josef against the ground. Gerhard turned, and Ardeth, struggling to his feet, punched him in the face. Gerhard cried out, and Ardeth punched him again, but he was still reeling from the German's cruel attack and couldn't do anymore. Fortunately, as he knelt down, he managed to grab Josef's gun before Gerhard could.  
  
"Do not…do not move." Ardeth panted, turning to small hand gun to face Gerhard, who slowly put his hands up. "I'll kill you." Ardeth threatened.  
  
"SOMEONE BLOODY HELP ME!" Jonathan screamed desperately, as Josef struggled to get up. The German was much larger than Jonathan, and the Englishman knew he would not be able to hold him for much longer  
  
Ardeth nodded, and keeping the gun on Gerhard, crawled over to Rick.  
  
"Are you all right?" Rick demanded, concerned.  
  
Ardeth nodded, and untied Rick. Gerhard cried out in anger, but Ardeth swung the gun back around, and Rick was able to remove himself from the rest of the ropes.   
  
"Give me that." Rick suggested, and Ardeth handed him the gun. "Go untie Jonathan before…" but Rick was cut off when Gerhard lunged for Ardeth as Josef finally dislodge Jonathan, who fell to the floor with a thud. Jonathan cried out, and rolled over on top of Josef again before the German was able to get up.  
  
"GET OFF!" Josef screamed.  
  
"Highly unlikely." Jonathan sneered.  
  
"Damnit!!" Rick cursed, and Gerhard grabbed the small ship's lamp off the bedside table and threw it at Ardeth. The Med-Jai cried out in pain, this time, and Rick shot wildly, and, unfortunately, missed Gerhard completely.   
  
"Nice shot." Gerhard smirked.  
  
Suddenly, Rick looked up, and smiled. He shot again, this time aiming straight up, and the light fixture that had been hanging directly above Gerhard was knocked down upon the German. Gerhard cried out and collapsed.  
  
"Damn right that was a nice shot." Rick nodded, self-righteously.  
  
"A little help, perhaps!?" Jonathan called as Josef pushed him off again. The German took one look at the situation and ran out, leaving Gerhard, still unconscious, in the middle of the room.  
  
"Coward." Ardeth muttered, his voice slightly hazy, but he sounded quite happy with the German's lack of courage.  
  
"Thank God. All right Jonathan…Lord, you're more use to us when you're tied up." Rick smirked, and just as he was to undo Jonathan's ropes, Josef ran back in, wielding a hand gun.  
  
"Who's the coward now." He smirked, cocking the pistol and pointing it at Jonathan.  
  
"Damn." Rick muttered. This looked pretty bad. He turned to Ardeth, who had struggled to his feet. The Med-Jai suddenly smiled, and motioned to Jonathan, who was staring up at Josef in fear. Rick raised an eyebrow, but smirked.  
  
Rick shot again, wildly into the air, but just close enough to Josef so the German would duck, and Rick and Ardeth struggled to lift the still-bound Jonathan. Rick heard the Med-Jai cry out in pain, but before he could ask, Ardeth simply shook his head.  
  
"What are you doing!?" Jonathan demanded.  
  
"Getting us out of here!" Rick cried back, and as Josef was getting to his feet, Ardeth and Rick bowled past him, using Jonathan almost like a battering ram.   
  
They managed to get out on deck, and ignoring the strange looks the other passengers gave them, they ran off the boat.  
  
"What about Suzette?" Rick asked, concerned.  
  
"WHAT ABOUT ME!?" Jonathan screamed.  
  
Rick raised an eyebrow as more people stared, and he flashed them a winning smile.  
  
"Er…he gets seasick. Ya…that's it." Rick smirked, and he and Ardeth brought Jonathan behind a pile of discarded wooden cargo boxes.  
  
"Finally." Jonathan breathed as Rick undid the ropes.  
  
"Stop your whining." Rick returned, but smiled good-naturedly. Jonathan rolled his eyes, but smiled back, and both turned to Ardeth  
  
"Are you all right?" Rick asked softly. The Med-Jai had received quite a battering, and he was bleeding from his arm, where Gerhard had struck him with the desk lamp.  
  
"Yes…I should be fine." Ardeth breathed.  
  
"Are you sure? That damned Kraut really took it out on you." Jonathan persisted, scowling a bit.  
  
Ardeth allowed a small smile.  
  
"I will be all right. Anyway…we have to find Suzette and that pendant before the discover how to utilize its power. Even I am not sure what exactly will happen if they unlock it." Ardeth prompted, getting to his feet slowly and painfully. Jonathan and Rick still regarded their Med-Jai friend with concern. Ardeth smiled at them.  
  
"Nice shot, Rick." He whispered, gratitude lacing his quiet comment.  
  
"Well…I was always good at thinking on my feet. Now, Jonathan, on the other hand, is good at thinking on the floor." Rick turned to his almost brother-in-law with a snide smirk.  
  
"Hey!" Jonathan protested.  
  
"Probably because you've had so much practice, huh?" Rick persisted.  
  
Jonathan rolled his eyes, and the three set off the rescue the French girl and avert the Germans from taking over the World. 


	6. Chapter Six

~ Cairo, Egypt—A Small, Yet Modern-Looking Hotel~  
  
The German woman, Greta, led Suzette up the stairs of the hotel towards the room Greta had secured, the gun hidden in her sleeve, still pressed against Suzette's back. The hotel was not far at all from the port…in fact, Suzette could still hear the boats and the crowds from the large window in the room.  
  
"I have to make a telephone call." Greta told Suzette roughly, and then she frowned, as if she had no idea why she had just said what she did.  
  
"Fine with me." Suzette sneered, sitting on the bed.  
  
"Watch it." Greta threatened, pointing the hand gun at the French girl. Suzette did not gasp, she just regarded her German captor angrily, thinking of all the nasty, harmful things she would like to do to the damned Kraut. Suzette was confused, though. When the woman had come to her door with Gerhard and Josef (what seemed like an eternity ago, Suzette reflected wryly), she had seemed almost as afraid as Suzette.  
  
The necklace, Suzette realized suddenly, the necklace is making her like this. The pendant had given Suzette and her family incredibly bad luck…and now it was making the German woman into a monster. That pendant had to be destroyed!  
  
Greta picked up the phone on the table by the bed and asked for the overseas operator. She then gave out a number and waited a moment.  
  
"Who are you calling?" Suzette asked, simply to be irritating.  
  
"None of your business." Greta hissed quickly. She looked anxious, and Suzette watched her as her hand went to the pendant.   
  
"Guten tag, mein Fuehrer!" Greta greeted after a moment. "Ja…ja, we have secured the pendant. Ja, we are leaving for the temple today, and we will…ja. Of course, mein Fuehrer. Ja. Me either! Nein…nein, we had no trouble at all…" Greta paused and gave Suzette a disgustingly triumphant look, then turned back away. "Nein. Ja, we will be ready soon…er…where are they? Uh, Gerhard and Josef are off securing a boat. Ja. A private one, so we will not…ja, exactly. Danke! Danke…ja. All right, do not worry, mein Fuehrer, we will be…ja! Auf Weidersehen, mein Fuehrer."  
  
Greta hung up the phone.  
  
"'Mein Fuehrer?'" Suzette raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ja…we are doing this for Germany." Greta sneered.  
  
"Ostensibly! You are doing this…whatever you intend to do, anyway…for your own benefit. And no wonder. I have heard stories about your leader. About his violent ways and views." Suzette accused.  
  
"I am very hard to anger, you stupid, French brat. So keep your mouth shut and I just might not kill you. I do not know why Josef and Gerhard desire you to be alive, but…well, if I must." Greta smirked.  
  
Suzette just stared, hard, trying not to belay her feelings to the dangerous German woman. Suzette knew that would be the worst thing that she could possibly do. She really was terrified, of course, but come hell or high water, she would not show it.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, not very far away, Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth were trying to figure out what their next step would be.  
  
"Apparently, we have to retrieve the girl." Ardeth announced as they walked away from the crates. The three scanned the crowd with anxious eyes, watching for their two German 'friends'. Fortunately, Josef and Gerhard were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Thank God for small favors!  
  
"Apparently." Jonathan rolled his eyes.  
  
"Why did they take her, though? Why would they need her?" Rick mused. "After all, didn't her however-many greats grandfather just take that pendant thing? Suzette shouldn't have anything to do with it."   
  
"I wish I could tell you, my friend." Ardeth sighed. "But if they find out she is not useful to them…" Ardeth trailed off, allowing Rick and Jonathan to draw their own conclusions.  
  
"Yes. Well. We must, ah, prevent that, eh boys?" Jonathan suggested.  
  
Rick, still on the look-out for their German friends, only nodded in agreement.  
  
***  
  
Josef and Gerhard, at that moment, were not too far from Rick, Ardeth, and Jonathan, actually. They were waiting for Greta by the port, and had just secured passage down the Nile to their desired location. As they had expected, the ticket vender had been a bit suspicious…the British trading post they had described had been deserted for decades, but with the right amount of money, one could easily overcome suspicions, and, luckily, Gerhard, Josef, Greta, and the French girl would have an empty boat.  
  
Which would work to their advantage, if they decided that the French brat was not as useful as they hoped.  
  
"Do you see them?" Josef asked his partner. Besides waiting for Greta, the two had also been on the look-out for their escaped prisoners.  
  
"No…you would think the Med-Jai would stand out just a bit." Gerhard sneered in angered exasperation. Josef raised an eyebrow…Gerhard's hatred for the Egyptian warrior was inexplicably strong and sudden. Even Josef had been a bit taken a back when Gerhard had attacked the Med-Jai back in the room with such violent vigor.  
  
"Speaking of…Greta seemed to react when she saw the Med-Jai…do you think that has anything to do with her connection to the pendant?" Josef asked warily.  
  
Gerhard turned to his partner and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why do you think I recommended her to the Fuehrer? She's simply some young, no-account scholar, but when we get to that outpost, her…'connection' will prove quite useful." Gerhard explained.  
  
"So it would explain the Med-Jai." Josef mused.  
  
"Ja. Which may be dangerous…if the Med-Jai is able to turn her from us, she could destroy the pendant, and all our plans with it. I wish I could have killed the damned 'warrior'." Gerhard sighed roughly, practically spitting out the word 'warrior.'. Josef raised an eyebrow at the new information. He had not been told much…not much more than he had already known of course. And Greta was connected to this…? Perhaps it explained Gerhard's hatred of the Med-Jai.  
  
Suddenly, something occurred to Josef…something somewhat startling.  
  
"Gerhard…why do you suppose the American and the Englishman were with the Med-Jai? I would expect him to be watching out for the French girl and her pendant, but what would the two of them have to do with anything?" Josef frowned.  
  
Gerhard turned to his partner, his expression relating that the thought had never occurred to him, either.  
  
"Perhaps…perhaps he knew them…from somewhere…" Gerhard stammered.  
  
"Something tells me that this may be harder than we expected." Josef foretold darkly, and Gerhard did not reply, although he was thinking the exact same thing.  
  
***  
  
Suzette watched in confusion and fear as Greta glanced at her watch, then held the pendant. A strange smile crossed her face, an unmistakably dangerous smile. Greta caught Suzette staring at her unhappily, and smirked. She moved across the room, taking out the small hang gun.  
  
"What?" Suzette squeaked, discretely frowning at the terrified quality of her voice. Greta laughed with dangerous superiority, twirling the gun around like some sort of crazy American cowboy.  
  
"Come on, we're going out." Greta told Suzette, sticking the gun into her back again and pushing the French girl to her feet.  
  
"Where? Why?" Suzette whined.  
  
"You do enjoy trying to annoy people. How old are you?" Greta demanded.  
  
"Eighteen." Suzette replied in a clipped way, starting towards the door.  
  
"You look younger." Greta scoffed.  
  
"Merci bien, but I am eighteen." Suzette spat.  
  
"How interesting. Now once we get out there, if you let on anything, I will shoot you right there…and I will." Greta hissed, and Suzette nodded, believing her completely.   
  
The two exited the hotel and headed out into the busy, bustling, afternoon streets of Cairo. Of course, they had know way of knowing that a little less than two hours later, a British librarian named Evelyn Carnahan would be purchasing a room, and making a few inquiries as to the whereabouts of her soon-to-be-husband and her ne'er-do-well brother.  
  
***  
  
"Stop!" Ardeth hissed, pulling Rick and Jonathan back.  
  
The two froze, and followed the Med-Jai's wide-eyed gaze. Sure enough, there two very-favorite Germans were leaning against an information kiosk, Gerhard smoking a cigarette, staring ahead intently, and Josef reading an apparently German newspaper disinterestedly. He flicked the pages, and looked as if he were sighing.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Rick asked.  
  
"How about…run away very quickly?" Jonathan suggested quietly.  
  
"That's your solution for everything." Rick told him dryly.  
  
"And a bloody good one it is!" Jonathan defended petulantly.  
  
"Shhh! They'll hear us. Come now, Jonathan, we cannot run away. Perhaps if we watch them, we will find the girl and retrieve the pendant." Ardeth motioned to his two companions. Jonathan and Rick rolled their eyes in unison, and Ardeth chose to delicately ignore that.  
  
The three hung back behind a parked car, hoping that the owner would not make an appearance any time soon. For a while, nothing happened…the two Germans would simply scan the area (causing the American, the Briton, and the Med-Jai to quickly duck down behind the car), check their watches, sigh, say something angrily to one another, than go back to smoking and reading.  
  
"Look…" Rick pointed out, just as Jonathan was about to express how flippin' boring this 'deathly' mission was quickly becoming.  
  
Ardeth and Jonathan followed Rick's finger, and sure enough, the German woman and Suzette approached. The French girl looked quite afraid, and the three didn't have to be geniuses to guess that the damned Kraut woman was holding a gun to her.  
  
"What do we do?" Jonathan hissed, looking around desperately.  
  
Rick was about to respond when a large, heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder. He cried out, jumping up in shock. Ardeth and Jonathan whirled around, coming face-to-face with an incredibly large Arabic man.  
  
"I'll tell you what you can do…you can get away from my damned car!" he cried in heavily-accented English…and also, in a quite loud tone.  
  
Ardeth looked at the Germans, who were, unfortunately, looking over in their direction.  
  
"Men…" He whispered.  
  
"Uh, we're very, very sorry sir, we didn't mean to, eh, stand…here. Yes…we will leave now." Jonathan smirked.  
  
"HEY!" A voice called.  
  
"Oh damn!" Rick cursed. Gerhard had seen them, and he and Josef were dashing over. The Arabic car-owner looked over in confusion.  
  
"We will actually be leaving quite fast, now…" Jonathan squeaked, and he ran past the man. Ardeth and Rick did as well as Josef pulled his gun from his pocket and shot at them. The bullet whizzed past Rick's ear, and he looked back.  
  
"HALTE!" Gerhard screamed.  
  
"Ya, sure, I MIGHT JUST DO THAT!" Rick smirked back, still looking back at their German assailant, which was not the best thing to do when one is running quickly through a crowded port city.  
  
"RICK!!" Jonathan and Ardeth screamed, and Rick smacked right into a parked car. With a pain-filled 'oof', Rick fell back to the ground, and Ardeth and Jonathan skidded to a stop. Gerhard and Josef were catching up quickly…  
  
"That was…er…graceful." Rick moaned as Ardeth and Jonathan helped him up.  
  
"Don't you ever make fun of me again, O'Connell!" Jonathan demanded as they started running again, the two Germans chasing after them, shooting wildly into the air.  
  
Meanwhile, as Josef and Gerhard ran off after Rick, Ardeth, and Jonathan, Suzette used the distraction to writhe away from Greta's iron grip. Before the German woman knew what had happened, Suzette was dashing down the street, laughing wildly. Greta cursed heavily in German, and started after the girl, ignoring the odd looks the people on the street were giving her.   
  
Suzette, mentally congratulating herself on her great escape and ignoring Greta's cursing behind her, caught sight of Gerhard and Josef, chasing after her three companions.  
  
"HEY! MEN! HEEEEEY!" Suzette called wildly, motioning with her hands. Unfortunately, she also alerted Gerhard and Josef to her presence, and Gerhard screamed out something in German that Suzette was a little embarrassed to translate.  
  
Gerhard aimed his gun at Suzette and shot, but Suzette managed to dodge, and Gerhard ended up shooting out the window of a truck. Sighing in relief, Suzette dashed across the busy street to catch up with Rick, Ardeth, and Jonathan.  
  
"Nice." Rick smirked at her, unable to say more.  
  
"Merci bien, Monsieur." Suzette panted.  
  
"Hey gents! Sorry to be a downer, but I don't think I can run much more…" Jonathan panted, dodging another of the German's poorly-aimed shots.  
  
"I have an idea!" Ardeth called, and motioned to a pick-up truck that was speeding down the road by the port. Crossing into the street, Ardeth made an amazing leap and landed in the bed of the truck. Rick and Jonathan followed his example, and Suzette tried to, but she almost slipped off. Jonathan managed to grab her arm before she did, though, and pulled her on board. Luckily, the driver did not seem to notice.  
  
"Uh…thanks." Suzette smiled at Jonathan, who smiled back, giving her a frantically relieved looked. Suzette was pretty sure she had the same expression, "I think I may collapse." She panted.  
  
"Not yet, child, there is still much to do." Ardeth told her seriously. Suzette raised an eyebrow and Rick smirked at her, mouthing 'he takes everything too seriously'.  
  
"All right, I will try to hold off on the fainting until we stop those bloody Krauts." She promised.  
  
The truck rode off, the four unwelcome passengers ducking in the back, as Gerhard and Josef, screaming angrily, faded out of view. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Of course, the four in the bed of the truck were soon discovered by the owner…a rather disgruntled, middle-aged Englishman. But, although none of them would ever steal under normal situations (except, perhaps, Jonathan!), Ardeth tried to carefully and gently explain why they needed the truck temporarily.  
  
When Ardeth's careful, gentle explanations didn't work, Rick tried his own kind of explanations…which were markedly less careful and less gentle. But, they seemed to produce the necessary results, and Rick and Suzette sped off in the cab, Jonathan and Ardeth still riding in the bed, and the disgruntled Englishman yelling obscenities from the side of the road.  
  
"Do you do this often?" Suzette raised an eyebrow at the American.  
  
"Er…well, no, not really." Rick smirked at her.  
  
"Ah. Oui, I guess I understand." Suzette shrugged, and turned to look out the window, when Rick realized something quite important. He turned to the French girl.  
  
"Hey, open the back window and ask Ardeth where we're going, because right now I have no idea." Rick suggested. They had left Cairo, and were now barreling through the oddly beautiful desert around the city.   
  
"Dieu!" Suzette muttered, rolling her eyes, but did as she was told, turning to open the window to the cab and inquiring of the Med-Jai where they were headed.  
  
Ardeth frowned at her in consternation.  
  
"Don't you know?" He requested.  
  
"Don't I know what?" Suzette returned, confused.  
  
"Where we are going?" Ardeth replied.  
  
"Er…no." Suzette shook her head.  
  
"Bloody wonderful." Jonathan rolled his eyes, and Suzette and Ardeth shot him cocked-eyebrow looks. Jonathan shrugged and shook his head. Suzette sighed and turned back to the Med-Jai.  
  
"Didn't the woman tell you where they were headed? I have no idea, honestly, where they would need to go. Up until now, everyone assumed that the Bridle was simply legend." Ardeth explained patiently.  
  
"You boys considered something 'legend'?" Jonathan asked incredulously.   
  
Ardeth ignored him, and Jonathan rolled his eyes again.  
  
"We better figure something out soon, because this baby is running out of fuel---fast." Rick put in from behind the wheel.  
  
"Did the woman say anything?" Ardeth prompted of Suzette.  
  
Suddenly, something struck Jonathan, and he did not even hear Suzette's reply. The woman! The German woman! It had been her! The one he had seen, with the necklace on, which meant…oh God, something big was going to happen. Jonathan wildly motioned for someone to listen to him, and Ardeth turned, giving his English friend a look of confusion.  
  
"I dreamed about her!" Jonathan spluttered.  
  
Suzette, who was hanging out of the back window in order to speak to Ardeth, looked up in consternation, but as she did, she slammed her head on the top of the window. She cried something out in French that made Rick raise an eyebrow (after all, Rick had served with the French Foreign Legion, so he knew all varieties of French curses)  
  
"Haven't heard that one in a while." Rick remarked, smirking.  
  
"Dreamed about who?" Ardeth demanded of Jonathan, who had sunk into deep thought.  
  
"What about who?" Suzette asked, still frowning angrily and rubbing the back of her head where she had smacked it.  
  
"What about…what?" Rick frowned.  
  
Jonathan turned to Ardeth, and opened his mouth, as if to speak, but then decided against it and crawled up to the front of the bed, motioning for Suzette to move out of the way so he could speak to Rick. The French girl nodded and pulled herself completely back into the truck and Jonathan stuck his head in the window.  
  
Ardeth scrambled up behind him, so as to hear.  
  
"Remember before this all started…I was telling you I had an odd dream about a woman, in the desert, wearing a necklace? And there were armies and two men in gray suits came up…?" Jonathan prodded.  
  
"Yeah…faintly. I think I wasn't listening to you." Rick frowned, trying to recall.  
  
Jonathan rolled his eyes.  
  
"Come on, this is important! The woman in the dream…the woman I saw, looks almost exactly like our German fraulein!" Jonathan exclaimed.  
  
"You dreamt of her…wearing the necklace?" Ardeth demanded, his eyes almost burning in seriousness and intensity. Suzette turned around, frowning in confusion.  
  
"Yes." Jonathan replied.  
  
There was silence, except for the tread of the wheels on the road below them and the desert wind whipping around the car. Suddenly, something also occurred to Suzette, as if Jonathan's epiphany was catching.  
  
"British outpost." Suzette murmured.  
  
Rick turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "What did you say?" he asked.  
  
"The woman…er, Greta, I believe, is her name, told me it was some sort of British outpost. Abandoned. I don't know where, exactly, but they were going to take me on a boat to get there, so apparently we're talking about something a bit of a distance off." Suzette explained.  
  
"British outpost…oh! Wait! I think I may…damn, we're going in the complete wrong direction then. Damn. We have to turn around. Besides, I want to stock up. If we meet up with our German friends again, then I wanna be armed." Rick exclaimed, wheeling the truck into an almost perfect 180-turn. Jonathan was thrown backwards on top of Ardeth, who rolled over and nearly fell off the side.  
  
"Dieu! First you steal a car, then you drive it like crap!" Suzette pouted.  
  
"Live a little." Rick winked at her.  
  
Suzette rolled her eyes, but laughed as she heard Ardeth demand Jonathan get off of him. But she didn't hear the Med-Jai question Jonathan intently about his dream, and she didn't hear the note of fear in the warrior's tone.  
  
***  
  
Back in Cairo, Greta led Josef and Gerhard up to the hotel room she had rented, the three of them way beyond mad. The little French brat and her irritating companions had made them miss their boat! Now, they were forced to find some sort of alternate transportation to the outpost, and soon. The power of the pendant was growing, Greta could feel that, and they needed to activate it quickly.  
  
"What do we do?" Josef demanded.  
  
"We need a car." Greta suggested.  
  
"A car! That will take twice as long!" Gerhard protested.  
  
"But it will get us there, so shut up and let me call someone. Perhaps there is a rental service somewhere near…" Greta was cut off as a woman practically bowled her over, running down the stairs.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" Greta snarled.  
  
"Ah, forgive me." The woman apologized in a light, cultured British accent.  
  
Greta simply shook her head and walked past as the English woman continued to run down the stairs, muttering about how rude certain people could be.   
  
Once in the room, Greta dialed the operator and asked for the number of a car rental service. After securing the information, she, Josef, and Gerhard exited the room again.  
  
Something occurred, then, to Gerhard.  
  
"We need more ammunition…and bigger guns, as well. Our 'friends' are still out there, and they are not fools. Especially the Med-Jai. If we come into contact with him, then we need to make sure we can take care of him." Gerhard suggested.  
  
Greta turned to him, her eyes intense.  
  
"What, exactly, is a Med-Jai." She demanded quietly.  
  
Neither of them saw the British woman come up behind them.   
  
"A Med-Jai is a descendant of an Egyptian pharaoh's body guard. The Med-Jai are almost like the policemen of the desert…and strong, powerful, and dangerous warriors. If this Med-Jai finds us, then he could destroy everything we are trying to do." Gerhard explained softly. Josef nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Of course." Greta whispered, as if she had already known the answer. Then she frowned. "Why would an Egyptian warrior be traveling around with an American and an Englishman?" she questioned.  
  
"We have no idea. And we cannot worry about the 'why' of things…all we have to worry about is doing away with the four of them, and getting to that outpost." Gerhard replied sharply, and Greta nodded.  
  
The three walked right past the British woman, without catching the horrified expression on her face.   
  
After she was sure that they had not seen her, Evelyn Carnahan hurried out of the hotel after the three Germans who were apparently trying to murder her brother, her fiancé, and their Med-Jai friend.  
  
***  
  
Rick parked their newly-acquired truck in front of a small, dusty store, nondescript in every way except for a small card in the dusty window that read, in English, 'OPEN'. Ardeth, Jonathan, and Suzette exchanged looks in confusion as Rick opened the door and stepped out into the blinding Eastern afternoon.  
  
"What are we doing here?" Suzette asked.  
  
"Stocking up." Rick winked at the girl.  
  
Jonathan scanned the grimy, disgusting-looking storefront window and raised a critical, distinctly British eyebrow.  
  
"Looks like the only thing you'd be 'stocking up on' here is dirt." He remarked.  
  
"Believe me, we'll find what we need in here." Rick assured, and pushed the door open.  
  
Inside the store, it was cool and odd-smelling, and the four had to blink a bit before they could make anything out. Looking around, Suzette stared with wide-eyed wonder. Lining the poorly-made shelves were guns. More guns than Suzette had ever seen before, guns of all makes and models.  
  
"Nice, huh?" Rick smirked.  
  
"Should prove useful." Ardeth nodded lightly.  
  
"Useful for what?" A scratchy voice asked, and Jonathan and Suzette nearly shrieked in fear. Rick, on the other hand, laughed loudly, and Ardeth looked around for the source of the voice. A man stepped out from the back of the store, a small, pale, heavy-set, old fellow who smiled widely, revealing more than a few missing teeth.  
  
"Why do people always feel they have to scare other people to death!?" Jonathan demanded petulantly, and Suzette nodded in agreement. Rick ignored his soon-to-be brother-in-law and walked up to the old man, patting him on the back genially.  
  
"O'Connell! What in the hell you doin' here? Though ya went to London or somethin'." The old man asked happily.  
  
"Ah, you know me, Petey, just can't stay away. Petey, I'd like ya to meet my friends…and ask a favor of you." Rick motioned to Ardeth, Suzette, and Jonathan, then turned back to the old man with a winning smile.  
  
"Lemme guess…ya want some guns." Petey raised a scruffy eyebrow.  
  
"Yep." Rick nodded.  
  
"What for this time, O'Connell?" Petey asked as he waddled back to the "display" rack and took down a particularly large elephant gun, handing it to Rick, who stroked it lovingly.  
  
"Oh, the usual…destroying an ancient evil, stopping some power-mad Germans from conquering the World, looking for a little fun." Rick winked.  
  
"O'Connell, you're always on the go." Petey sighed, and Ardeth held back a laugh of agreement as the bald old man handed him a Thompson.  
  
Rick selected two handguns and fitted them in his holsters, then Petey handed two more to Ardeth. Jonathan grabbed a rifle, the weapon of his choice, and Rick turned to Suzette.  
  
"You know how to shoot?" He asked her.  
  
"Oui, of course." Suzette flicked an eyebrow.  
  
"Huh? You…" Jonathan turned to her, surprised.  
  
"Come now, Monsieur, an eighteen-year-old, unmarried girl living in Paris has to know how to shoot a gun. I'm just kicking myself that I did not have one in my apartment when those damned Krauts paid their little visit." Suzette sneered in a tough voice.  
  
Rick handed her a small derringer, and was about to ask for some extra ammunition (all of Petey's guns came pre-loaded. Another reason why Petey preferred to keep his store plain and unnoticeable to the Cairo authorities.), when a car pulled up outside the shop.  
  
"You, eh, expecting company?" Rick wondered faintly.  
  
"No, but then again, someone always seems to need a cheap gun quickly in Egypt." Petey shrugged.  
  
"Oh no…" Ardeth whispered, motioning out the dirty window.  
  
"Well this is wonderful…" Jonathan muttered.  
  
Their most favorite German friends, Gerhard, Josef, and Greta were heading to the store.  
  
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far! I'm so happy you like this…I was kind of nervous, this being my first attempt at a Mummy fic, so thank you for being so nice ^-^. Oh! And I have another fic in the works, so expect to see it soon…  
  
Danke! 


	8. Chapter Eight

"What do we do!? what do we do!?" Suzette shrieked sharply as the Germans approached, and Ardeth slapped a hand over her mouth, leaving only Suzette's wide eyes uncovered. Jonathan and Rick backed up a bit, cocking their pistols, and Petey stared at his customers in confusion.  
  
"First, we try to achieve the element of surprise." Ardeth hissed, practically dragging Suzette back, then walking forward again, motioning for her to stay put. Suzette nodded, rubbing her jaw where the Med-Jai had very nearly squashed her face.  
  
"Friends of yours, O'Connell?" Petey whispered as the Germans entered the store.  
  
As they caught sight of Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth, Greta, Gerhard, and Josef pulled out their guns. Almost in unison, the American, Englishman, and Med-Jai pulled out their guns, in a scene faintly reminiscent, to Rick and Jonathan at least, of something that had happened a little less than ten years back.  
  
"Guten Tag." Greta sneered.  
  
"Good bloody day." Jonathan sneered right back.  
  
"So, would you like us to shoot first, or shall we let you go. Of course, I doubt you three could do much damage anyway." Gerhard spat derisively.  
  
"Wanna test us?" Rick spat right back.  
  
"Well…I'm sensing some tension here…" Petey raised an eyebrow, and started to back up away from the six. But, unfortunately, he tripped over Suzette, who was still crouching back where Ardeth had told her to wait. The French girl screamed and jumped to her feet, shooting her derringer into the air, thereby causing the gun-bearing contingents to all jump in shock and look around for the source of the fire.   
  
Rick and Ardeth, fortunately, regained their bearing first, and the American and the Med-Jai ran forward, both barreling into Josef and Gerhard, who were still looking for the source of the gunshot. The two Germans fell back almost at the same time, leaving only Jonathan and Greta standing. Greta turned to Jonathan, who still had his rifle pointed at the woman.  
  
Suddenly, he gasped.  
  
She was wearing the necklace!  
  
Jonathan was about to do…something, he wasn't sure what, when Gerhard, who was much larger than Rick, threw the American into the Englishman, sending them both flying back. Ardeth, meanwhile, had forced the handgun from Josef, but that was all the ground he was able to gain. Suzette judged the situation and pointed her gun at them, but she was unable to get a clear shot. Petey, as the owner of an under-the-table gun retail in an Eastern city and thereby full of experience, had ducked behind the counter and was watching the fight with a highly nervous expression.  
  
Gerhard, meanwhile, had grabbed his gun, and pointed it at Jonathan and Rick, who were still tangled up in one another. Greta smiled happily, and Suzette screamed "WATCH OUT!"   
  
Unfortunately, all that managed to do was distract Ardeth, and Josef was able to dislodge the Med-Jai, throwing him into the wall, hard. A poorly-constructed shelf fell on top of the dazed Ardeth, and he slumped down, motionless. Josef smirked, and Suzette, angered, aimed her derringer, able to finally get a clear shot. She pulled the trigger, but as she shot the gun, she tripped forward over something and the bullet flew wild. At the same time as Suzette fired her gun, Josef fired his, aimed almost directly at Ardeth. But he had been spooked by Suzette's gunshot, and in the resulting smoke, the German wasn't sure if he had managed to take care of the damned Med-Jai.  
  
Suzette wasn't sure, either.  
  
"No!" Suzette cried, and rushed over to the fallen warrior.  
  
"One down, two to go." Greta, who had seen the gun go off, smirked, and she and Gerhard pulled back the triggers on their guns, aiming at Jonathan and Rick, who were looking around, desperately trying to find the source of the two gunshots. They couldn't see either Suzette or Ardeth.  
  
"I don't believe so!" a new voice cried, and something smacked Gerhard in the back of the head sharply. The German started forward, blinking in pain, and Greta and Josef whirled around in shock. Rick and Jonathan rose to their feet and knocked the two to the ground, but Greta kicked Jonathan in the groin, hard, and the Englishman moaned in pain as he rolled off her. Josef managed to dislodge Rick, and he and Greta dashed out of the store, followed by Gerhard.  
  
"What just happened there?" Rick demanded, getting to his feet. Who had thrown something at their big German buddy?  
  
"I figured I would find you here, O'Connell…the best place to get guns quick in Cairo." A highly cultured English voice smirked.  
  
"Evelyn?" Rick sputtered, and his fiancé stepped all the way into the store, smiling triumphantly. Unfortunately, she also stepped on Jonathan, who was still rolling around in hurt.  
  
"BLOODY LOVELY!!" Jonathan screamed, frustrated.  
  
"Evelyn! What are you doing here?" Rick demanded joyfully taking his bride-to-be in his arms and kissing her. Evelyn kissed back, then they both pulled away, staring at each other with that deeply-in-love sort of expression.  
  
"What…you think you can leave me behind?" Evelyn challenged playfully, then turned to her brother.  
  
"Are you all right, Jonathan?" She asked as Rick helped him up.  
  
"Oh yes…I just…may never be able to…father children." Jonathan panted, his voice an octave or two higher.  
  
"Thank God for small favors." Rick smirked, and Jonathan was about to reply, when they heard Suzette called to them softly.  
  
They all looked over, and gasped.  
  
"What the…oh. Oh…" Jonathan breathed in sharply.  
  
"No..." Rick's mouth hung open, his eyes wide.  
  
"Oh my God…" Evelyn whispered.  
  
Ardeth Bey, Med-Jai warrior, lay in a pool of darkening blood.  
  
***  
  
"Damn! Now there's five of them! What the hell are we going to do!?" Gerhard demanded as Josef started the car, tearing away from the gun shop.  
  
"Get to the outpost before them." Greta replied intensely. She was a bit unnerved at how the Englishman had looked at her…at the necklace. Did he know something she didn't? Greta was both tired and completely alive, and she felt as if she were someone else. As if the pendant had made her someone else, and the Greta she had been was not entirely fond of this new person. But…dear Lord…the power was immense! Once they got to the outpost…which was really the Sacred Ground, the power would be unleashed. Then…to hell with Germany, to hell with the Fuhrer, that power would be hers!   
  
"Well, I think I got rid of the damned Med-Jai." Josef boasted, driving as quickly as he could through the busy Cairo streets.  
  
"Good show, there. If he's been taken out of the picture, this will be infinitely easier. So…it still is only four against three." Greta winked at Gerhard, who nodded with satisfaction. It would have been a bit more satisfying if he had been the one to kill the Med-Jai, but just as long as he was dead.  
  
Greta, suddenly, felt something painfully strong shoot through her, and she cried out in shock. Josef looked over at her, eyebrows raised in confusion.  
  
"What is it!?" he demanded.  
  
Greta stared down at the pendant, which looked as if a fire was burning inside of it, and the car was bathed in an eerie turquoise glow.  
  
"Its power is growing." Gerhard smirked.  
  
"Soon. Soon." Josef nodded.  
  
Greta simply stared, her whole body wracked with the intense control of the pendant that had once been part of a bridle. 


	9. Chapter Nine

He didn't know where he was.  
  
He couldn't see, couldn't hear, could barely even think above the almost reflexive confusion that swirled around, then everything was blindingly clear, and he was in the desert. He blinked, wondering what had happened. The last thing he had remembered was a loud, popping sound…  
  
And then a sudden, sharp pain, and the French child crying out 'no!'.  
  
Then blackness.   
  
Was he dead?  
  
He shuddered at that, and hoped to Allah he was not. Not yet, not when the three Germans still had to be stopped. And he was in the desert…? He looked around. Nothing, just the immensity of the Sahara. He tried to cry out, but could not. He had no voice…he was mute and alone…  
  
Suddenly, a thundering noise came from far off, causing the ground the shake and a whirlwind of sand appeared over the horizon. Something was coming…something large.   
  
Dangerous.  
  
He took out his gun…which was not a gun, but a scimitar. He stared at it, shaking his head, wondering if this was some sort of test for entering the Afterlife. Some sort of judgment. He hoped to Allah he was not dead, but if he was, well, then…  
  
He would pass this test.  
  
The thundering grew closer and the sand parted, revealing the strangest army he had ever seen. First off, it almost seemed that the men went on forever…there were more of them then he could ever imagine. Secondly, and perhaps more strangely, it was a fusion of ancient-looking Egyptian troops, Classical warriors, European-clothed soldiers, and others he could not identify, and at the head was one man on a large, black horse.  
  
Something glinted off the horse.  
  
The bridle!  
  
He steadied himself. The ancient Warrior-King, who had founded the power of the bridle, raised a golden sword, leading the army of timeless soldiers forward…closer…  
  
Suddenly, he heard a very, very familiar voice cry out in fear. He looked over in shock.  
  
"JONATHAN!?" he cried, rushing over to the Englishman, who was looking around in sheer terror. Jonathan didn't seem to hear him, he just continued sweeping the invaded desert fearfully.  
  
He was about to reach over and touch the Englishman to alert him to his presence when another familiar figure appeared, a woman wearing a golden necklace with an aquamarine pendant.  
  
Greta von Lintzer.  
  
"Take this! Please!" Greta pleaded, removing the necklace and thrusting it at Jonathan. Her eyes were big and wide, and filled with tears, and her hands shook as she shoved the necklace forward.  
  
The army was getting closer…  
  
Then two large men appeared, and he felt like he was in the middle of some odd reunion…they were Josef and Gerhard, of course. If he were dead, he reflected, a lot of other people were as well.  
  
The two large Germans grabbed Greta's shoulders before she could hand the necklace to Jonathan, who was staring at the pendant in horrified intensity.  
  
The roaring mass of soldiers from every imaginable type of army was almost there, and the Warrior-King on his black horse was visible against the white-hot sun of the Sahara. The sun-beams glinted off the aquamarine jewels of the horse's elaborate bridle, and an aura of total, unchecked power emanated from the man.  
  
The Warrior-King cried out something in the ancient language of the Sahara. He translated it quickly as 'THE ARMIES OF THE DESERT ARE MINE!'  
  
Gerhard and Josef had dragged Greta and the necklace from Jonathan, who was starting to chase after them, and the Armies of the Desert were upon them…  
  
Suddenly, a small, scared voice…  
  
And a light…a different sort of…  
  
"WAKE UP!"   
  
Ardeth Bay's eyes flew open, and he looked around in disorientated confusion.  
  
***  
  
Suzette almost burst into tears of relief when her Med-Jai friend awoke, looking up at her blearily. She had been so afraid that he had been…dead. Suzette had only known these men a few days, but they already meant something to her. After all, you can only go through so many near-death experiences with someone before striking some sort of bond with them. And she wanted more than anything for the Med-Jai to be all right. He simply had to be!  
  
"Ardeth! Are you all right!?" Rick demanded, gently pushing Suzette aside so he could check his friend.  
  
"Y-Yes, I think so…" Ardeth muttered, his voice fuzzy with pain.  
  
"Where did they shoot him?" Evelyn demanded. She and Jonathan were standing over Rick and Suzette, holding hands in fear.  
  
"In the side." Rick replied, the anger in his tone almost tangible. He had cut a strip from his jacket and had bound the bullet-wound, which, luckily, was not as bad as it could have been. Yet it still was bad. Rick wanted nothing more, at that moment, then to strangle those three Germans…even the woman. No one hurt his friends and got away with it…no one. Rick O'Connell would make sure those three Krauts learned that lesson.  
  
"J-Jonathan…" Ardeth started. Talking hurt.  
  
"Shh…it's all right," Jonathan started, seeing the agony the Med-Jai was in.  
  
"No!" Ardeth breathed slowly. He had to tell them what he had seen. Jonathan walked away from Evelyn and knelt down in front of Ardeth, Suzette and Rick backing up to give him room.  
  
"I-I saw…I saw your dream. The armies…and the woman…" Ardeth explained haltingly.  
  
"What dream?" Evelyn frowned. Then she noticed Suzette for the first time. "And…I'm sorry, who are you?"   
  
"Suzette Bonnvillian. My damned necklace started this whole thing." Suzette replied in disgust.  
  
"Evelyn Carnahan." Evelyn introduced.  
  
Suzette nodded, mustering up a half-hearted smile. She felt so damned guilty. This whole thing had started with her…if she had only taken that pawn-shop owner up on his stupid thirty francs, this whole thing would never have happened. And…she prayed fervently that Ardeth Bay would be all right. If anything happened to him, she would never be able to forgive herself. She stared down at the Med-Jai, trying not to cry.  
  
"I had a dream…about a woman wearing the pendant. And it turned out to be Greta." Jonathan explained quietly. Evelyn still appeared confused, but she didn't persist. Jonathan turned back to Ardeth. "You saw it?"  
  
The Med-Jai nodded.  
  
"All right, we can discuss this later." Rick decided, eager for action. "Suzette, go start the car." He tossed the keys to the distraught French girl, who nodded and rushed out of the gun shop.  
  
"Hey, is he gonna be all right?" Petey asked, peering up from behind the desk. He had been watching the proceedings in a nervous confusion…all the talk of dreams and pendants and such made absolutely no sense to him.  
  
"I shall be fine." Ardeth assured, but he sounded weak and bleary still.  
  
"I hope so. Come on, Jonathan, help me move him to the truck. We have to stop those damned Krauts before they manage to destroy the world, and besides that. I wanna teach them not to mess with my friends." Rick instructed, his voice taking on that authoritative tone he always slipped into when a situation looked bad. Rick O'Connell was good with pressure, and also good with pay-back.  
  
"Can you stand at all?" Evelyn asked the Med-Jai.  
  
"Perhaps…" He grunted, and struggled to his feet, but almost doubled-over in pain. Jonathan and Rick quickly supported him on both sides, leading him slowly and gently out of the store. Evelyn followed, grabbing her brother's rifle.  
  
Out at the car, Suzette climb out of the cab and hopped into the bed as Rick and Jonathan laid out the Med-Jai so he would be somewhat comfortable. Then Rick and Evelyn got into the cab, and Rick started the truck.  
  
"Suzette!" He called through the window. "Where did she say?"   
  
"A British outpost, an abandoned British outpost…you said you knew where it was…?" Suzette returned.  
  
"Oh, yes. Don't worry, we'll get there and take care of those jerks. Make sure he's all right." Rick instructed, and they pulled out of Petey's under-the-table gun market.  
  
***  
  
"An hour or so, and we should be there." Josef reported, glancing over at Greta. She was staring out the window, but her gaze was a million miles away. The light from the pendant was growing steadily brighter and brighter, bathing Greta's face in an odd, slightly sinister aquamarine light. Gerhard, in the back seat, smiled a bit. Soon.  
  
"Why me?" Greta suddenly murmured. Her voice was different…darker.  
  
"Why you what?" Gerhard demanded.  
  
"Why is it me? I was chosen…not because I am an Egyptologist, or because I know the ancient world. It was something else, wasn't it? There is something…some connection between me and the pendant." Greta did not really ask this. It was more like a statement that she was laying out for Josef and Gerhard to confirm  
  
"Ja, fraulein. The Fuhrer does not know that, though. We recommended you to him only on the basis of your studies alone. But we knew. We knew the truth of it. We knew that you would be the one to unlock the power of the bridle." Gerhard nodded in a dangerous, almost sensual tone. Greta smiled in a sinister way, the aquamarine light shinning deep in her eyes. It did not appear to be reflected light, either. The light seemed to be coming from Greta herself.  
  
"The ancient King. The Warrior-King whose name has been lost to history…he foretold this." Josef added thoughtfully. "He foretold someone would rise up and harness the power that he built into the pendants. And you are that someone, Fraulein von Lintzer."  
  
"Ja. Ja…and the Armies of the Desert…" Greta stared at the Sahara, rushing past them.  
  
"Will be ours." Josef nodded in dangerous satisfaction. 


	10. Chapter Ten

With the desperate intent of gaining quickly on their German 'friends', Rick drove the truck, thanking God that the Sahara did not come equipped with speed limits. As he drove, Rick explained to his fiancé what exactly had happened over the past few days…how Ardeth had found and saved Suzette, the Germans-Greta, Gerhard, and Josef, the pendant and its power, the boat-trip…everything (except, he did manage to leave out the part about him running into the parked car. After all, Rick figured, that really wasn't really too relevant to the situation!).  
  
"I can't believe you were going to go with out me!" Evelyn exclaimed, eyebrow raised.  
  
"Come on, Evy, you were in Dublin! We couldn't just say 'hold up your scheme for conquering the world, we have to wait for Evelyn Carnahan to get home.'" Rick kidded, giving his fiancé a winning smile.  
  
"Fine, fine. I see your point." Evelyn sighed.  
  
"I'm glad you're here now, though." Rick told her, trying to make her feel a bit better.  
  
"Yes, you should be glad. I saved your necks back in that store!" Evelyn agreed with just a touch of self-righteousness.  
  
"And I'm very, very grateful for that." Rick winked.   
  
"That French girl…she seems to fit right in with this." Evelyn remarked, smiling still.  
  
"Suzette? Yeah, she's a plucky little thing. Or, at least, she learned how to be really quickly." Rick agreed.  
  
Evelyn nodded, then she suddenly turned serious.  
  
"I hope Ardeth is all right. He needs medical attention." Evelyn realized, sighing heavily. The Med-Jai was their trusted friend, and had helped them before. They owed it to him to make sure he pulled through.  
  
"I know. I hope we can stop them soon…I don't know how long he can hold out." Rick agreed somberly.  
  
"I'll check on them." Evelyn suggested.  
  
Rick nodded, and Evelyn turned around in her seat, pushing open the back window that opened out to the bed of the car. Jonathan and Suzette looked up as Evelyn peered out at them.  
  
"Are you all right?" She asked.  
  
"We're fine." Jonathan called back, and Evelyn smiled at her brother, shutting the window.   
  
Things had been subdued in the truck-bed. All three had much to think about. Suzette and Jonathan had been carefully checking Ardeth, who was fading in and out of consciousness, but seemed somewhat stable. Suzette was cursing herself, how this was all a result of her and the stupid pendant. Jonathan was mulling over his dream, how Ardeth had seen the same thing, and what it all could mean.  
  
"I hope we can…" Suzette sighed, and trailed off.  
  
Jonathan looked up at her. "Me too." He then mustered up a smile, seeing how distraught the French girl appeared. Suzette mustered up her own smile, and then they both smiled for real, laughing at how ridiculous they looked, trying to be cheery and happy.  
  
"I still can't believe…damn if I had only taken that broker up on his damned thirty francs." Suzette sighed roughly, pulling her hand through her hair.  
  
"Thirty francs?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
"Oui. I was trying to hock the necklace." Suzette explained.  
  
"Why? I would think…well, hasn't it been in your family for a while?" Jonathan asked, confused.  
  
"Since the Napoleonic Wars. Which, is exactly why I wanted to sell it. See…and I know this probably sounds like the epitome of clichéd occurrences…that damned pendant has brought my family more misfortune than you could imagine. Alexandre Bonnvillian, who took the necklace originally, lost both legs in Marengo…he died destitute. Since then, we've had everything: death, bankruptcy, fires, mortal enemies...the works! And my father…he was captured during the Great War, at Verdun, wearing the pendant. He barely survived by eating his shoe leather. And…Papa died three years back…leaving me by myself. And, it seems, the damned thing is still brining me bad luck." Suzette explained harshly, her voice dipping over the rushing wind.  
  
"Wow…rough go, there. I can see why you wanted to sell it…" Jonathan sighed, then allowed a tiny smile. "But, then again, if you did, you never would have met us." He cracked.  
  
"Mon Dieu, couldn't have that, now could I?" Suzette winked at the Brit, joining Jonathan as the two of them started to laugh a bit. But they stopped immediately when Ardeth let out a fevered moan of pain.  
  
"He needs help…more than we can give." Suzette sighed, taking the Med-Jai's hand in hopes he would take some solace from her presence. Perhaps he did, because Ardeth stopped muttering and lay still again. The blood was staining the bandage Rick had used, and it was obvious the Warrior was suffering greatly.  
  
"I know…but there's nothing we can do right now. We have to stop…" Jonathan started sadly, and Suzette joined him as he finished, so they surmised in unison: "those damned Krauts."   
  
Suddenly, something struck Suzette.  
  
"You saw Greta, in your dream…and apparently so did Ardeth." She questioned quietly, looking up at the Brit with an inquiring expression.  
  
"Yes…why?" Jonathan returned, tilting his head in confusion at the French girls query.  
  
"I…I'm not sure. It's just…well…it's odd. Why she would appear in your dream, before you even knew who she was. Do you…do you think that could mean anything?" Suzette persisted, still in that soft, musing tone of voice.  
  
"Unfortunately, I think it could." Jonathan nodded softly.  
  
"I think…I think she's the one we need to take care of. She's the important one." Suzette deliberated, and Jonathan nodded as Ardeth softly whimpered again. Suzette looked down at the Med-Jai, almost in pain herself.  
  
"Damn." Jonathan whispered.  
  
The truck sped on.  
  
***  
  
The outpost was, indeed, abandoned, and had been so for years, apparently. The small fort that had once stood had collapsed in on itself, and the stable building looked as if it had been a victim of a fire. A few sickly-looking palm trees rattled in the hot desert wind, and the sand formed whispy ghost-looking trails along the ground.  
  
Josef pulled up to the abandoned outpost and exited the car. Gerhard followed, then Greta pushed the passenger door open and stepped into the blistering Sahara afternoon.  
  
The pendant looked almost like a turquoise fire, flickering and reflecting off Greta's eyes.  
  
"Here we are." Josef smirked, looking around, his eyes anxious and hungry.  
  
"Yes." Greta nodded. Her voice had changed completely. No longer did she speak with a bright German accent, as she had previously…now her words echoed with an Eastern intonation, an ancient-sounding inflection, as if she was used to speaking a language long lost and buried in the Sahara sands.   
  
"Do you know where to go next?" Gerhard asked her, his voice full of anticipation. They were so close! And even if the American, the Britisher, the French girl, and the others did managed to catch up with them, it would be much too late. Plus, with that damned Med-Jai out of the way, the others would have no chance against them.  
  
Greta lifted the burning pendant, and closed her eyes, drawing from it. The air almost cackled with heat and the electricity of something dangerous waiting on the horizon.  
  
"Yes…a little ways…follow me. The spot where the Warrior-King fell, yes, that is where we shall be able to harness his prophecy." Greta nodded.  
  
Josef and Gerhard smirked at each other.  
  
Greta started off, walking fluidly, quickly, her feet not even seeming to touch the sand. Josef and Gerhard followed.  
  
They walked for a few moments, and then Greta stopped abruptly. A small outcrop rose, seemingly, out of the sand, casting a small shadow on the other-wise flat desert. Greta motioned for Josef and Gerhard to hang back, and the German woman knelt softly on the uneven sand, in the shadow of the rock.  
  
"Here he fell." She murmured, more to herself than her two companions, and traced a small circle in the sand.  
  
Josef and Gerhard watched in amazement as the circle Greta had traced began to glow the same eerie aquamarine as the pendant.   
  
Smiling, looking positively evil in the new, sinister light, Greta slipped the necklace off and placed it in the glowing circle. She bowed her head and cried out something in an odd language, totally incomprehensible to Josef and Gerhard. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and heave, the sand rising in falling with the motion of the earth, and an unexpected beam of turquoise light shot up from the circle.  
  
Greta cried out louder in the ancient tongue, and the light grew brighter, stronger, reaching almost to the sky. A whirling vortex of clouds surrounded the beam, and the quiet Sahara was shattered with a thundering noise, echoing, roaring from all sides.  
  
The noise of an approaching army, the cry of thousands upon thousands of blood-thirsty soldiers, bearing down on the center of aquamarine radiance.  
  
Josef and Gerhard stared at each other again, but this time their triumph was mixed with just a touch of fear.  
  
***  
  
Rick had parked the truck at the outpost when the earthquake hit, and Evelyn jumped out after her fiancé. In the bed of the truck, Jonathan and Suzette stood up, looking around in confusion as the ground heaved and shook violently.  
  
"What's going on?" Jonathan demanded.  
  
"It's happening…now, she…she started…" Ardeth muttered feverishly, opening his eyes and picking his head up.  
  
"What's happening? What's started?" Suzette cried, dropping to her knees beside the Med-Jai.  
  
"Look…" Ardeth whispered, his eyes growing wide suddenly.  
  
Suzette stood again, and Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder, motioning to the sky, which had quickly become an evil shade of turquoise; a swirling bank of impossible clouds accompanied the light, and a sound…a cacophony of thunder and screams filled the air.  
  
"Oh my God…" Rick cried.  
  
This was going to be harder than he had thought. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Greta could not see, could not hear…could not even feel. Everything around her had reduced itself to the thunderous heaving of the approaching army, as if the Earth itself had split in half, and something horrible was roaring out.  
  
A small voice echoed in her head. A German voice…her own: 'What have I done? What have I done…'  
  
And then laughter! Of all things, laughter! Gerhard and Josef's, and Greta opened her eyes. She was still kneeling, and the sky had turned a dark black, the world shadowed but for the turquoise light, still spiraling upwards from the pendant. And all around her, from each direction, the Armies of the Desert came.  
  
Led by an ancient Warrior-King.  
  
Directed by odd impulses almost shooting up from the pendant, Greta closed her eyes again and lowered her hands over the jewel, almost touching it but not quite.  
  
***  
  
"What do we do!?" Suzette shrieked above the odd, frightening roar, Jonathan still grasping her shoulder, in fear himself. Ardeth tried to push himself up but cried out in pain. He whispered something, but the wind tore it away, and the wounded Med-Jai felt as if he was totally devoid of strength.  
  
Rick looked around wildly. This was obviously much bigger, much worse than he had imagined, and, honestly, he had no clue what to do. But Evelyn was holding on to him tightly, and Jonathan and Suzette were staring at him from the truck bed anxiously. Rick knew he would have to come up with something…he was expected to.  
  
"We have to…we have to…" Rick started, fumbling for some sort of assurance.  
  
"The pendant!" Ardeth managed to cry out in a raspy, rough voice. Suzette and Jonathan's eyes widened and they turned from Rick, kneeling down next to the Med-Jai. Suzette blinked slowly and took his hand.  
  
"The pendant…what about it?" She asked softly, barely audible above the wind. Ardeth heard, though.  
  
"You must…destroy it." Ardeth whispered, but Suzette and Jonathan caught it.  
  
"Of course! You always have to destroy the bloody thing…that's always the damned answer." Jonathan nodded excitedly, and stood up.  
  
"We have to destroy the pendant!" He told Rick and Evelyn.  
  
"How?" Evelyn queried. Jonathan looked back down at Ardeth and Suzette, but Suzette only gave him a wide-eyed stare. Ardeth had passed out once more. Jonathan sighed.  
  
"I don't know." He returned.  
  
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting whoop, and unearthly war-cry that seemed to echo from everywhere, all at once.  
  
"We have to do something…NOW!" Rick cried.  
  
"We have to destroy that bloody thing." Jonathan restated.  
  
"I know, I know. Jonathan, come with us! Suzette, you stay with Ardeth…we'll call if we need you!" Rick commanded. Jonathan turned back to Suzette, who was looking up in alarm, her eyes conveying her fear at being left alone with the unconscious Med-Jai.  
  
"It's all right. You'll be fine. We'll take care of them, just make sure he's okay." Jonathan assured the French girl softly, who was now looking much younger than her eighteen years.  
  
"Oui." Suzette nodded, scared. Jonathan gave her a brave smile, then jumped out of the truck and he, Evelyn, and Rick ran off in the direction of the deafening cry.  
  
***  
  
Josef and Gerhard saw them approach, and cried out in irritation. Only a few brief moments, and the ritual would be complete, the Armies of the Desert ready to do the two Germans' bidding, and the three had to come and interrupt them! It was only the American, the Englishman, and that woman…the French girl and the Med-Jai were nowhere to be seen. Of course, the Med-Jai was probably dead, the two Germans realized with identical smirks.  
  
"What the hell is going on here!?" The American…Rick, or something like that…demanded of them angrily, gesturing the cloudy sky and the swirling turquoise light.  
  
The unearthly war-whoop sounded again, and the earth began to shake with the approaching vibrations of countless horses, bearing countless soldiers.  
  
The Armies of the Desert.  
  
"What do you think?" Gerhard smirked calmly, and motioned to Greta, who was still kneeling down by the pendant.  
  
"Damn, its started." Rick remarked.  
  
"What the bloody hell did you think was happening before!?" Jonathan demanded, raising an incredulous eyebrow.  
  
"Shut up." Rick sighed.  
  
"Don't you realize what you're doing!? You could kill us all!" Evelyn shouted at Gerhard and Josef.  
  
"We know exactly what we're doing." Josef spat, and then everything exploded in a fiery mass of white light. Evelyn, Jonathan, Rick, Gerhard, and Josef dove to the ground, covering themselves as best they could, trying to hold out against the blinding light.  
  
Then it cleared.  
  
The wind stopped.  
  
The clouds were gone.  
  
But not the hoof-beats.  
  
Rick was the first up. He turned around slowly, and his mouth flew open as he beheld what was fast approaching them. An immense army, comprised of all echelons of troops, in every type of uniform, on every type of horse. The eclectic, chaotic force seemed to move with a driving cohesion, though.  
  
Jonathan gasped. It was his dream! His dream…and Ardeth's vision, exactly! The troops, and the Leader…the imposing, intimidating Warrior-King on his elegantly powerful black Arabian stallion. Only, in this reality, the stallion was not wearing a bridle.  
  
And Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan understood that the Germans would use the pendant that they had stolen from Suzette to gain control of that immense Army. Whoever had the bridle…or, part of the bridle, at least…was the real leader of the powerful force barreling towards them.  
  
"Now! It is time!" Gerhard exclaimed, giddily and almost threateningly maniacal.  
  
"NO!" Rick cried, and he dashed forward, trying for the pendant, but Josef jumped forward and clashed with the American. They both fell, fighting angrily, roughly, Rick using all his urgency, his fear, to beat the living hell out of the damned German. Meanwhile, Jonathan, sensing the need to distract Gerhard, threw his handgun to his sister, who looked at him with big eyes.  
  
The Warrior-King was fast approaching, and behind him came the enormous Army.  
  
"Distract him!" Jonathan mouthed to his sister, motioning to Gerhard, who was dividing his attention between the coming Army and the fight between Josef and Rick, watching both with a twisted smile of pleasure. Rick and Josef seemed almost evenly matched, tussling ferociously in the sand, both of them bloodied and beaten.  
  
Evelyn stared at the hand gun and then shot it in the direction of the coming Army. Gerhard turned to her in anger, and Evelyn shot again. The enraged German advanced upon her.  
  
"Come on, that's right! Come and get me!" Evelyn challenged, trying to sound like Rick did when he was baiting the bad guy. Of course, with her cultured English accent it did not work as well, but Gerhard was so power-mad and blindly furious that accentual inadequacies did not exactly matter to him.  
  
Evelyn shot the small gun again, still in the direction of the encroaching Army, and Jonathan took his chance as Gerhard rushed over.  
  
Jonathan dashed past Josef and Rick, casting a backwards glance at them. Rick caught Jonathan's eye and winked, wincing a bit in pain, mouthing for Jonathan to go on ahead…he could keep Josef busy. Jonathan nodded and reached the epicenter of the whole situation.  
  
The pendant. And Greta.  
  
The German woman was kneeling, her eyes closed and her hands just above the aquamarine gemstone. She looked removed from the noise and confusion, and Jonathan figured it would be easy to sneak up on her and take the pendant.  
  
But, as was the usual course of events, Jonathan was wrong.  
  
Well…sneaking up on the woman was easy enough, as he had predicted, but taking the pendant was not. As Jonathan reached out for the jewel, something that felt like burning electricity shot through his body. The Englishman cried out and fell back, blinking to clear his vision.  
  
He could not touch the pendant!  
  
***  
  
Suzette had never been so frightened. When the white light had exploded out of nowhere, she had thrown herself on top of the still-unconscious Ardeth in an attempt to protect him from what was coming. Then, when the light had dissipated and the cry had sounded, Suzette had stood, shading her eyes against the desert sun, and she had seen the approaching army.  
  
"Oh damn. Damn!" Suzette cried, and dropped to her knees again, next to the fallen Med-Jai. "What are we going to do?" She whispered to Ardeth, whose face was motionless. Suzette looked down and frowned…blood was seeping into the Med-Jai's robes. Biting her tongue, Suzette felt where he had been shot, and gasped when her hand was suddenly wet with blood. Rick's make shift bandage had broken.  
  
Ardeth was going to bleed to death.  
  
"Oh, Dieu, please!" Suzette hissed fervently. Something…she had no idea what to do! And the others…were they still alive? The sound of the horsemen, the infinite seeming number of soldiers approaching. They could not face them alone, and what if the Germans had already taken control? The horrid possibilities raced through Suzette's mind.  
  
Suddenly, Ardeth sat straight up, his eyes widened, his hand going to his heart.  
  
"What!? What?" Suzette shrieked, caught off guard.  
  
Ardeth turned to Suzette.  
  
"The woman needs to do it! The woman…she is the one that has to destroy it." Ardeth told the confused French girl, his eyes still wide, and all the pain had left his gaze. Suzette frowned slightly, not even aware she was frowning.  
  
"What do you mean…Greta?" Suzette murmured.  
  
"Jonathan…he tried…but he cannot, the woman must. Suzette, I must tell them." Ardeth exclaimed, struggling to his feet. But as he tried to stand, the pain returned to his eyes and he collapsed to his knees in pain.  
  
"No! You cannot…let me go." Suzette volunteered.  
  
"No, I will not let you go alone." Ardeth breathed heavily, struggling to stand again.  
  
"We can stand here, arguing while the others may be getting killed, or you can let me run there and save us all." Suzette challenged hotly, standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing.  
  
Ardeth smiled lightly, raising his eyebrows at her. Suzette blushed a bit.  
  
"Just my French temperament." She smirked.  
  
"Be safe." Ardeth whispered, and Suzette nodded, giving the Med-Jai a final smile. Then, she jumped off the truck and ran towards Jonathan, Rick, and Evelyn, hoping there was still time to help them.  
  
***  
  
The Army came closer. So close that the sweat rolling down the flanks of the Warrior-King's midnight-black stallion could be seen, glistening in the Saharan sun. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Josef was gaining the upper hand over Rick, and Gerhard was quickly advancing on Evelyn, who held up the gun against the German. Only one round was left and she did not want to waste it. Jonathan, on the other hand, was deliberating. He could not touch the stupid pendant…so he could he destroy it? But before he could come to any sensible conclusions, something hard was thrown against him and Jonathan fell forward.  
  
"Thanks for…oof…breaking my fall."   
  
Jonathan rolled his eyes. Rick had been thrown at him.  
  
"Are you all right?" Jonathan demanded of the American.  
  
"Yes…except…for my entire body and many of my bones…I should be just fine." Rick winked with a hard-pressed smile. Then he grew sobered and anxious "What's going on? The Army is still approaching."  
  
"That's because I can't touch the damned thing! Every time I try, I get bloody electrocuted." Jonathan explained bitterly.  
  
"Rick! Jonathan! Help!" Evelyn suddenly cried, and shot off the last round of the hand gun wildly. Not thinking twice. Rick and Jonathan dashed off to help Evelyn, Josef getting to his feet and running after them.  
  
***  
  
Suzette was almost there. She could see the others, fighting with the two German men. She could also see the horsemen, heading forward at breakneck speed. And then, Suzette saw them slow down. Her eyes widened as she ran towards her companions, and the horsemen…just…  
  
Stopped.  
  
The desert was completely silent. Even the soldiers' horses made no noises or movements. An eerie stillness hung over the air, and Gerhard, Josef, Evelyn, Rick, and Jonathan stopped fighting, looking around in confusion and fear. Suddenly, Rick turned around and noticed the French girl.  
  
"Suzette…what…?" He frowned.  
  
"What is it?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"Everyone…" Suzette started slowly, but before she could finished, Greta von Lintzer grabbed the turquoise pendant and stood in jerky, almost mechanical fashion. Rick, Jonathan, Evelyn, and Suzette watched the proceedings in wide eyed fear. Josef and Gerhard, on the other hand, watched in eager anticipation.  
  
Greta was approaching the Warrior-King!  
  
Quickly, Suzette turned to Jonathan, Evelyn, and Rick.  
  
"She has to do it. Greta has to destroy the pendant, she is the only one who can!" Suzette explained in a hurried whisper.  
  
"Bloody wonderful. We're all doomed, then, I assume." Jonathan hissed back.  
  
"What do we do?" Evelyn demanded.  
  
Suddenly, Rick turned to Jonathan abruptly.   
  
"Your dream, Jonathan! You said you saw her giving it to you…she wanted you to have the pendant. Maybe you can make her get ride of it." Rick explained softly, so as not to alert Gerhard and Josef. But they would not have heard anyway. The two Germans were completely and totally absorbed by Greta's progress towards the stalled Warrior-King.  
  
"Are you kidding?" Jonathan blurted out in disbelief. He never understood why he was the one who always had to risk his life! Was it too much to ask that someone else stare down certain death for a change!?  
  
"Jonathan, it is our only chance." Suzette pleaded softly.  
  
"Yeah…I know." Jonathan sighed, and he set his face with a resolute expression then started forward, to Greta who was making her steady approach to the ancient, powerful Warrior-King atop his glistening black stallion.  
  
***  
  
Greta von Lintzer was a prisoner inside her own body. The pendant had made her nothing more than a vessel for its power, and the real Greta, the Greta she had been before Josef had told her to put on the pendant, was crying out in protest at what this new Greta was doing. She was desperately afraid of the giant man on the black horse, and the real Greta, the trapped Greta, demanded that she turn away, that she run away, that she do anything but give that creature the pendant. But her body would not listen, and she walked forward at a frustratingly slow pace towards the Warrior-King.  
  
She held the pendant out in front of her as she walked ahead stiffly, like some sort of deranged flower girl at an equally deranged wedding. The black horse reared a bit, letting out an odd shrieking sound that Greta was sure normal horses could not make.   
  
The pendant gleamed bright, and Greta strode on.  
  
Then…something grabbed her shoulder.  
  
Greta wheeled around, the shock enough to bring her previous self out for a moment, and she stared at her assailant, wide eyed. It was that Englishman! Jonathan, she thought his name might have been, Jonathan or something. The Englishman was saying something frantically, but Greta could not understand it. The Warrior-King's horse reared again, and something loudly shouted in an ancient language echoed in Greta's mind.  
  
The Englishman was trying to say something…and Greta shook her head roughly. Perhaps…perhaps should could…  
  
"Take it!" The real Greta demanded in a rough voice, shoving the pendant at Jonathan. "Take it, please!" she begged.  
  
The strange language echoed again in her head, and Greta stared all around her, at the countless soldiers waiting…waiting for a commander. A leader. And Greta understood. Whoever held the Bridle…or the pendant, now…commanded the Armies. And the Armies would give them all the power of the Desert…all of it. The real Greta was repulsed by the sheer power of it. No one should have that much power…it was too dangerous.  
  
"…can't take it, you have to…" Greta caught a snatch of the Englishman's plea.   
  
"I have to…what?" She demanded. The anticipation, the electric presence was almost crackling in the hot Saharan air.  
  
"Destroy…" The Englishman started, but all of sudden he cried out, and he was silent. Greta's eyes widened, the real Greta appearing more from the shock, and she noticed the Englishman, lying on the ground, and Gerhard standing over him with a smile. He had run over, apparently, after Jonathan, and had hurt him in some way…Greta did not know.  
  
"Go on, go to the King! Take the horse from him, do it!" Gerhard demanded.  
  
Greta hesitated.  
  
"No! Destroy the pendant!" Another voice called, and Greta watched in confusion as the American, the English woman, and the French girl came dashing forward, followed angrily by Josef. "Destroy it!" The English woman cried again, and the American and French girl bent down by the Englishman.  
  
"GO ON!" Gerhard growled, pushing Greta forward.  
  
But, instead of having the desired reaction of prompting her forward, Gerhard's push seemed to bring the real Greta back completely. She blinked and looked down at the pendant, still glowing repulsively bright.  
  
The Armies heaved restlessly. The black horse reared. The American and the French girl…Suzette, her name was…were trying to awaken the Englishman. The English woman was glaring at Gerhard murderously. Everything was…simply…waiting.  
  
And a voice again, sounding in her mind. But it was not a dangerous voice. It was another type of voice. Deep, mysterious…  
  
"Destroy it, Greta, destroy it now. Destroy the pendant, or it shall destroy you."  
  
The Med-Jai. It was the Med-Jai's voice, echoing. And Greta had thought the Warrior dead! Perhaps he was not…perhaps…  
  
Ardeth Bay. For some reason, the words 'Ardeth Bay' came into her mind, and she knew it was the Med-Jai's name. Ardeth Bay.  
  
Greta turned to the Warrior-King, who was regarding her cruelly. The black Arabian's nostrils flared and the imposing figure on top seemed impatient, ancient, and infinitely deadly. The Army surrounding them suddenly seemed the same…impatient and deadly, angry, with much more power than any person should have.  
  
"We were going to…" Greta started in utter and complete disgust, her mouth hanging open. Gerhard glared at her angrily and pulled another gun from his pocket. Suzette and the American looked up from where the Englishman still lay, unconscious. The English woman gasped. Josef grinned.  
  
"Do it. Now." Gerhard commanded in a voice as dangerous as the Warrior-King's impatient glare.  
  
Greta set her jaw firmly, her eyes darkening as she regarded her partner. The others: The American, the French girl, and the English woman, watched her in almost palpable anxiety. Greta held the pendant out and stared down at the Englishman.  
  
"I hope he is all right." She whispered to the American and the French girl. The two of them looked up at her with big, confused eyes.  
  
Greta smiled a bit, and she threw the pendant to the ground heavily.  
  
"NO!" Gerhard and Josef screamed.  
  
The Warrior-King angrily cried something out, too, something in his antiquated desert language.  
  
Greta smiled wider, ignoring Josef, Gerhard, and the Warrior-King, and she deliberately stepped on the aquamarine jewel, crushing it down with her boot until she heard it crack.  
  
Until she was sure that it shattered.   
  
***  
  
Suzette and Rick stared forward in amazement, but before they could even really register what had happened, the entire desert seemed to explode with sound and light and wind, a ferocious gale whipping from every corner, driving sand around them in a confusing mass, a sun-blocking cloud. Suzette and Rick instantly covered Jonathan as best they could, and Rick felt for Evelyn's hand, crying out her name. Suzette prayed desperately for Ardeth in the back of the truck, hoping the Med-Jai would survive this. Suzette was not even sure that she would survive whatever was happening.  
  
Then, as suddenly as it had started, the violent winds disappeared.  
  
And with them, so had the army.  
  
"Mon…Mon Dieu…" Suzette breathed shakily, getting to her feet unsteadily and brushing the sand from her hair. Rick rose next to her, and then Evelyn and Greta. Jonathan still lay, unmoving.  
  
"Oh God, Jonathan!" Evelyn cried, kneeling back down next to her brother. Rick, Greta, and Suzette joined her. Suzette grabbed Jonathan's wrist, feeling for a pulse. She whispered fervently in French, realizing with no surprise at all that she was praying.  
  
"What did he do to him?" Greta whispered huskily.  
  
"He didn't shoot him, he couldn't have…we would have…AAAAAAAHHH!" Rick screamed in shock as Jonathan popped up, eyes wide. Rick fell backwards, looking up at Jonathan in surprise, spluttering a bit.  
  
"Jonathan!" Evelyn and Suzette cried in relief..  
  
"What!? Why is everybody screaming!? Bloody hell, if I get pummeled by a Kraut one more time, I swear to God I'm going home! Hey…" Jonathan looked around. "Where's the whole…army…thing?"  
  
"I took care of them." Greta smiled in her normal German accent.   
  
Suddenly, a gun clicked, and Suzette, Jonathan, Rick, Greta, and Evelyn jumped to their feet. Josef and Gerhard, ragged and angry, were approaching, Gerhard aiming his hand gun at the five.  
  
"You…you…" Gerhard stammered, to enraged to form any complete sentences.  
  
The five froze, and Rick felt like a total idiot…he was unarmed! Jonathan squinted, seeing double still a little bit, and Evelyn, Suzette, and Greta backed up a bit.  
  
Suddenly, a shot rang out and Gerhard fell, motionless. The five screamed as one, all dropping in fear, but looked up when they realized that they were unharmed. Suzette turned around, her eyes wide as she beheld the fallen German and a certain, familiar figure standing there, holding a smoking pistol, looking pained and exhausted but very much alive, smiling his mysterious sort of smile.  
  
Suzette smiled back.  
  
It was Ardeth Bay, Med-Jai Warrior. 


	13. Conclusion

"Bloody good show!" Jonathan exclaimed, and Ardeth nodded slightly, then sort of stumbled forward. Rick and Evelyn rushed over and helped the Med-Jai steady himself, both of them thanking him profusely.   
  
"What about him?" Greta motioned to Josef, who was dividing his attention between the Egyptian Warrior and Gerhard's lifeless body, regarding both with unease, but looking at Ardeth with almost debilitating fear.   
  
Ardeth raised the gun and Josef ran off, almost flying out of view. The others turned to the Med-Jai in surprise.  
  
"You let him get away!" Rick exclaimed.  
  
"Yes…and he will go back to your county," Ardeth motioned to Greta "And he will be punished as well. Your leader will not be happy with him. I figure that your leader will do things to him that I could not even imagine."  
  
Greta looked down. "The same as he will do to me." She whispered.  
  
"Then don't go back!" Rick cried, as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world, but Greta looked back up again and shook her head.  
  
"I must. I understand…he wanted all the power that the pendant brought…and anyone that wants that much…well, he cannot be trusted. There will be trouble in Germany, I know, and I want to be there and do as much as I can to help. Even if he is not working for Germany, I must. If only to…if only to make up for what I tried to do here." Greta explained, her voice strong and decisive.  
  
"That's very brave." Evelyn smiled, and Greta shrugged humbly.  
  
"I should go now…and thank you." Greta nodded with a quiet sort of smile. She stooped down and pulled the keys out of Gerhard's pocket, then with a look of distaste, walked off towards her car.  
  
Everyone was silent for a moment…Jonathan went over to help Evelyn and Rick with Ardeth and Suzette followed. Then they were still and silent for another moment.  
  
"Well…" Suzette started, looking around. She hated silences, especially protracted ones.  
  
"Yes. I know the feeling. It's the whole 'well, we've saved the world…what do we do now?' case. Very normal." Jonathan deduced, raising an eyebrow at the French girl with his trademark wry humor.  
  
"Ah…I am glad that you are able to identify it." Suzette returned dryly.  
  
"Well, I do know what we have to do now…get Ardeth to a hospital before he dies on us." Rick interjected, and the others agreed, moving off to the truck and helping the Med-Jai into the bed again. Suzette and Jonathan sat back with him and Rick and Evelyn climbed into the cab, Rick starting the truck.  
  
"Rick…" Evelyn started as they took off down the desert road.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"Where did you get this truck?" She asked carefully.  
  
Rick simply laughed, and they drove off…and if the sun had been setting, they would have appeared your typical heroes: a cocky American, a prim English woman and her ne'er-do-well brother, a relieved French girl, and a wounded Desert Warrior.  
  
THE END!  
  
A/N: Sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed…it actually *was* rushed ^-^. Anyway, thank you to all who reviewed my first Mummy fic, and as soon as life becomes a little less hectic, I'll add to 'Noblesse Oblige' and post my newest fic-in-the-works  
  
Thanks! 


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